New Abu Dhabi F1 track video

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Here’s a new video preview of the Yas Island circuit which will host this year’s F1 season finale.

Big thanks to Guio Oblepias who sent the link in and writes:

I found it on a forum for CG artists and apparently it was leaked by someone working for a firm commissioned by the GP organizers. As such, it’s professionally done and much better-looking than the video of the rFactor sim you posted last month as well as game on the circuit’s official website. It shows cars racing around the circuit along with the unique features of the track like the runoff area under the grandstands and the underground pit exit. It gives you a great feel of what the racing might be like come November.

See here for an earlier video lap of Abu Dhabi F1 circuit.

More about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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45 comments on “New Abu Dhabi F1 track video”

  1. PrisonerMonkeys
    21st July 2009, 7:54

    I have to admit: I am actually looking forward to Abu Dhabi. I think it could actually produce a surprise at the end of the season, though I think the championship will be decided at Brazil by the latest.

    – Firstly, the architecture around the place. It looks like something Ken Adam might have designed for a James Bond film, especially the bubble-wrap hotel. I like the undercover run-off areas because it looks like the grandstands can be closer to the circuit.

    – Secondly, it’s the fourth circuit on the calendar run to an anti-clockwise configuration, and the second in succession. I don’t know how much of an impact it has on the drivers in terms of performace, but I imagine that when coupled with Brazil, it could take a lot out of the drivers. Especially if the last few rounds before it are hard-fought for the championship.

    – Thirdly, it’s got a little big of everything. The first section of the lap looks pretty fast and flowing up to the hairpin, and the spacing of the corners is such that a missed apex early in the succession could ruin things for a driver up to the straights.

    – Fourthly, the back section. Called it standard Tilke fare if you will, but I think Abu Dhabi could have Formula One’s answer to the Mulsanne. Le Mans cars used to run flat out for thirty seconds every three and a half minutes as they took on that mighty straight and I find it significant that drivers take the fastest section of the circuit, slow down for the little switchbacks and then accelerate again to the second-fastest section of the circuit and weigh anchor for the bottom corner. If engines are at the end of their life cycle, this section could really stress them.

    – Finally, the last section. Sure, it looks like an endless sequence of ninety-degree bends, but once again they’re evenly spaced with the odd faster or opening corner thrown in just to make sure the drivers are paying attention, and then the final corner is the tightest in the section. It gives the drivers little chance to rest, and I really think that Abu Dhani could be a race of atrition as a long and stressful season winds down.

  2. 75 PERCENT I GIVE….LOOKS A BIT LIKE THE STADIUM SECTION AT HOCKENHEIMRING…

  3. Hard to tell from the video but the track looks quite narrow.

  4. CovertGiblets
    21st July 2009, 8:57

    The circuit looks to be an exciting prospect. I’ve often wondered why run off areas aren’t designed underneath grandstand sections, seems obvious to me. The fans get closer to the action and safety aspects are still satisfied.

    I would imagine the spectacle of F1 car(s), out of control, thundering towards you will be fantastic!

    I only hope it doesn’t turn out to be another ‘Turkey’ (pun intended :-)) If they can fill the grandstands then I think the future looks good.

    I agree with PrisonerMonkeys that the season will probably be over by then… but you never know.

  5. What a great looking cgi video, looks really good (sorry to go off at a tangent, i work in cgi).

    Anyway….Abu Dhabi is definately raising a few eye brows, hope it doesn’t get over hyped though.

    1. It’s ok, nothing special though is it? High-end PCs would be able to render most of this in realtime – maybe even at 60fps…

      1. You’re mistaken pSynrg. Most CGI is rendered with high level ray tracing. Current graphics cards can not run even overly optimized ray tracing beyond about 10 fps. And that’s even with a workstation graphics card.

        Also, a lot of CGI is generated with high polygonal modeling, and NURBS. Very different than low polygonal modeling with normal mapping.

        (I am a game developer and 3d modeler.)

        1. You would know then Elliott that this could still be rendered in realtime on a high-end PC – assuming of course that all the usual tricks are employed in order to achieve a high frame rate with an illusion of raytracing and complex high polygonal models. Especially with the latest generation of video cards with hardware tesselation, sophisticated geometry instancing and massive numbers of shaders faking it…
          I understand the nature of raytracing and if this demo is indeed (fully) raytraced then it’s a pretty poor effort. Although certainly more impressive than the recent rFactor demo :)

  6. The video is great…but the track to me is not that exciting.
    No major gradients, no technical challenges (say S curves at Suzuka, or Ascari or Parabolica bends, Maggott, Eau Rouge).
    Some quick sequence corners, but not fast enough to me. The classical Tilkodrome with no fantasy and no really original sections. Hope I’m wrong, I’ll be the first to say that I got the wrong impression…but…

  7. Great video but the crowd are wrong. Crowd like that are at Silverstone/Magny Cours/Montreal.

    I bet at Abu Dhabi the grandstands are almost empty and there are about 4 yacht’s in the harbour

    1. Bartholomew
      21st July 2009, 14:29

      Thats what I thought.
      Sheik Osama al Salami will have to fill in, with paid men picked off the street, a few areas of some grandstands, and have the cameras only pointing there.
      It doesent matter if the rest is empty if you dont see it on TV.

      All this work is admirable, but not at the expense of the GP of France and Germany.
      First things first.

      1. “All this work is admirable, but not at the expense of the GP of France and Germany.
        First things first.”

        …and North America…places that have rich racing heritage and where people actually show up to watch races!

      2. Bartholomew
        21st July 2009, 22:24

        I apologise for being so picky and negative.This story in particular is about the pride that the racetrack promoters have in their achievements.
        The track and infrstructures look great – congratulations for a work well done.
        And the video is dinamite !

    2. +1 my reaction too :(

  8. Looks interesting. Can’t quite work out the ‘underground’ pit exit though – is it a tunnel?

    Also I’m not sure that F1 needs ‘interesting’ tracks – that way Trackmania lies. It needs better tracks and better crowds. Silverstone, for example.

    1. PrisonerMonkeys
      21st July 2009, 10:36

      The pit lane is on the outside of the circuit. The pit exit is on the infield. The cars dip down and go under the circuit to rejoin.

      And given that everything from The Vale to Woodcote is chicanery, I’d hardly describe Silverstone as being a “better” circuit.

      1. Sounds cool. Maybe Singapore coud do something like it to sort out its dangerous pit entry

        1. PrisonerMonkeys
          21st July 2009, 13:45

          The solution they came up with isn’t too bad. It could probably do with some extending back down the staright before turn twenty-three so that the cars are fully in the lane before the corner; dipping under is expensive and probably restricted by the geography of the thing. Since it’s right on the foreshore, there isn’t really anywhere to go.

  9. Prisoner, I don’t think the complex at Silverstone is chicanery…the Bridge and Priory are fast corners, Luffield is slow but very long and difficult.

    Anyway, taste is taste.

  10. I will never complain about boring run off again after seeing Surtees accident in the F2 :( RIP

    1. Or Ayrton, Roland etc.

    2. I think the cuse the the initial hit by the wheel though, the runoff seemed to be alright

      1. wow, that made no sense.

        I think the cause was the initial impact by the wheel though. I don’t think the runoff was an issue.

        1. Yeah but I guess if there was decent run off the car that crashed would have stayed away and the wheel wouldn’t have bounced back onto the circuit

  11. The circuit isn’t too bad actually.

    There are two long straights separated by a slow chicane complex. If someone gets a tow on the first straight and passes under braking but gets out of shape through the chicanes and is too slow to get on the gas again, the position can be retaken in the following straight. We might see some interesting position swapping reasonably frequently.

  12. i too am looking forward to the two consecutive straights. not keeping my hopes too high though.

  13. as long as the atmosphere’s good and a sell out. (ie. like brazil)

  14. I’m sorry but to me it just looks like another TilkeDrome: Flat, Slow, Wide Soul-less.
    :(

    1. +1

      It just feels like another place for cars to go in circles.

  15. the track looks nice, but I don’t agree with it. There are thousands of starving children in that part of world, and yet they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a race track! Its disgusting. I don’t that F1 fans should even support the race. I bet at least half of the money made there is going into B.E’s pocket and the rest is going to terrorist organizations.

    1. Mark Hitchcock
      21st July 2009, 20:24

      While I agree with the sentiment, if they weren’t spending money on this they wouldn’t be spending it on hungry children instead.
      So it doesn’t actually make any difference.

    2. The U.A.E. does not have a good track record in their treatment of manual labourers, yes, but starving children?

    3. Hey Brian, maybe it will all become better if you were to move to Spain with a few tins of shoe polish…

  16. It would be more realistic if the showed empty grandstands.

  17. are the fans singing *we hate derby, we hate derby” right at the start of the clip. maybe a lot of local Nottingham Forest fans out there.

    1. Haha yeah the football chant sound is stupid

  18. Looks good from the video, unfortunately will probably turn out to be another Tillkedrome. Although I have hope.

    Anyone else notice a distinct lack of overtaking? The Orange-Schumi punted off someone else, then someone else let him past in fear of being hit and then Orange Schumi negates all his advantages by pulling down into the pits. (Probably to repair the damage to his front wing…!)

  19. Tis a stupid place to have a race. Let them keep their camel and lets keep our F1 cars for ourselves. This is all just a ploy so Bernie can get more money. The grand stands will be empty and yet Bernie will still be happy because he got his money.
    I wish Bernie would do something to prove that he cares about the fans. Even if its free hot dogs and beer.

  20. HounslowBusGarage
    21st July 2009, 20:52

    I agree with Jayb, the football chanting is a bit childish. But the track is the thing here, isn’t it. I like the under-stand runoff area, but it’s only at that left hander, I think that’s right?
    Overall, I wish it had some gradient to it and not so many slow turns. Maybe just fewer turns and a few hills . . .

  21. Note the unnecessary wreck, way too many hairpins, Valencia-like tunnel for no reason, the video makes it look narrow, and finally, it’s still shaped like a rifle.

    1. PrisonerMonkeys
      22nd July 2009, 1:22

      way too many hairpins

      What, all two of them? Sure they’re one after the other, but they’re designed to work together. The chicane and the big hairpin at the far end of the circuit will be important, because they affect the speed at which the driver emerges onto the back straight. If they take it wrongly, it will be easier for drivers to pass them going into the second hairpin.

  22. They never look this fast on my TV…

  23. I still don’t understand why they’ve put a chicane before the first haipin. Surely it would aid overtaking if it was a straight, fast run into the hairpin

  24. I think the track and facilities look brilliant.
    I just hope the racing does it justice.

    Although the championship will probably have been decided by then. :P

    Could be good though.

  25. How can u guys say such things like camel race & other racist things,,, and how can the admin of the site allows this ?

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