Unprecedented popularity of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix points to bright future for regional motorsports

ABU DHABI: The drivers themselves may play it down, but a year on from the last Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, few racing fans or pundits can resist recalling that famous final lap, which saw Max Verstappen overtake Lewis Hamilton to win his first-ever title. This season, Red Bull’s Dutch driver has retained his championship several weeks ago in less dramatic circumstances, but the memory of the 2021 finale lingers. “It was a historic race,” said Saif Al-Noaimi, the CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management.

“The fact that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton arrived with exactly the same points to Abu Dhabi, the final race of the season, the championship-deciding race…that is for me the memorable moment. “We have to remember that last year, we modified the racetrack. “It was no coincidence that arguably the most exciting Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in its 13-year history came after the track had been revamped to produce more wheel-to-wheel racing and provide more opportunities to overtake.

“It is fantastic to see the results of that work over the last summer, in 2021, and to see how competitive the race was. In that Grand Prix, we had 33 overtakes on the track and four lead changes. So clearly the effort and the changes that we’ve made to the track in 2021 have paid off.

“And it was a historic race, record number in terms of attendance on the ground last year. Then also, we had a record number in terms of viewers on the livestream — we had over 108 million viewers. It was actually the largest sporting event globally of 2021.