After a marathon season of 21 races, the time has come for the last event on the calendar – the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The race has only been held there since 2009, and is one of the most visually spectacular tracks, with half of the race taking place in the daytime, and half at night.
It is not a track, however, for overtaking, as it features several long straights and a ‘twisty’ section that requires the utmost focus from the drivers. Despite this, Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is looking forwards to the last race of the year.
“I like this circuit” commented the Finn. “It has a quite slow last part of the lap but has a great atmosphere as it is the last race of the year. So, obviously it’s a slightly different feeling and it’s in the evening,” he said.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver mentioned that the changing conditions at the track aren’t an issue for the drivers, due to the excellent floodlights, as well as the light show provided by the Yas Viceroy Hotel that overhangs the circuit – easily it’s most distinguishable feature.
“The lights are very good. Sometimes it can be not that easy with the lights but the driving conditions are not difficult to get the visual right. The sight is more or less the same in the daytime.”
Similarly to many other drivers, even though the track is not notorious for its overtaking possibilities, Raikkonen relishes the challenge of attempting it.
“It’s not a very easy place to overtake but it’s a challenge to do it. It’s about quite long laps and a lot of tricky corners. So, I’ve always enjoyed it there.
“Maybe it’s because it’s the end of the year and there are many things happening for the people when they come to watch the race.”