I was at the 24th and final race of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship held at Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen, with Oscar Piastri in second and Lando Norris in third. In this final race of the season the three drivers had still the opportunity to win the World Drivers’ Championship. The result of the race meant that Norris became World Champion, ending the season two points ahead of Verstappen and 13 ahead of Piastri.
The results didn’t alter the fact that McLaren easily won the Constructors’ Championship, their tenth title and second in a row. They were followed by Mercedes and Red Bull Racing.
As seen above, I was present for all three days in the Mercedes “Abu Dhabi Club” (Paddock Club) situated at Turn 1.
I booked a one-week holiday package with my local carrier Luxair, and I stayed at Hotel Beach Rotana (see my review).
After the race, I also visited (and reviewed):-
This was only my second time on a F1 race circuit. The first time was at the July 1973 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. I was standing at Woodcote when Jody Scheckter spun on the first lap, causing a pile-up that eliminated 11 cars and led to the race being stopped and restarted. I still remember thinking they might hit us.
Pre-Race Buildup
My contact was with Grand Prix Tickets Ges.m.b.H., based in Austria. They provide tickets to F1 Grand Prix 2026 and MotoGP 2026. The offer is quite varied ranging from €2,165 for the Australian GP 2026 to €33 for the Saudi Arabian GP 2026. I’ve no idea why there is such a difference.
More importantly, they offer a variety of “privileged” access tickets to the Paddock Club, Monaco Terrace, Ferrari Paddock Club, and the Oracle Red Bull Racing. On their website there is no mention of the Mercedes Paddock, however it was confirmed in May 2025 that I would have access to Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Paddock Club for the entire three days. At the time I didn’t look at what was offered with other teams, etc.
There is a generic description of what that entailed, including:-
- Access to the circuit and the Formula 1 Paddock Club
- Open bar
- Gourmet luncheon with fine wines
- Pit lane walkabout(s) at specially allotted times
- Truck Tours (first come, first served)
- Access to Support Race Paddock
- Official Programme and ear plugs
- Entertainment
- Entrance to the Club Suite, the hospitality area designed for individuals and small groups fully equipped with TV screens, bar and lounge area
- Prime viewing facilities from the pit building
- Private parking.
It was mentioned that Formula 1 had recently introduced a booking system for guests to participate in Paddock Club Track Tours via their F1 App. I registered, but never was “selected” to visit the track. I also tried for the “Truck Tours”, but again was never early enough in the lounge to enrol.
It was on 24 November that I received access to an Event Portal and instructions about guest registration. Also I arranged to have the tickets delivered to my hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Two points here. The first is that there was some confusion in the hotel, but the company worked hard to deliver by hand my tickets the day before the first race-day.
Secondly, I tried to figure out how best to go to and from the hotel to the race track. The hotel was less than useful, by proposing that I rent a car and driver for 10 hours each day. Whereas the person who brought me the tickets told me that Abu Dhabi was one of the easiest and best organised F1 events, and that taxis would work fine. This turned out to be excellent advice.
The Event Portal
There was a Guest Registration. It was important because a QR code was required for access to the Mercedes Abu Dhabi Club itself. So the Paddock Ticket gave me access to circuit and paddock area, and the QR code on my phone gave me access to the Mercedes hospitality lounge.
It also asked about dietary preferences and any special requirements. And there was a digit-sign-all-waiver, explicitly framed as part of Mercedes’ sustainability efforts. Deadline was 2 December, three days before the first practice sessions.
There was also a FAQ which told me that tickets were distributed on race week itself. It also told me that dress code was comfortable shoes, and no competitor team kit or offensive branding.
There was a section “Getting to the Circuit” which was more focussed on coach and chauffeur passes, and parking instructions. With my Paddock Pass I also received privileged parking for the three days, which I did not use.
But most importantly, there was a short section on taxis. It told me that guests could be dropped off and picked up at the W Abu Dhabi, Yas Island hotel providing that they showed a valid F1 Paddock Club Ticket at the security check. F1 Paddock Club guests could then use the bridge from the W Abu Dhabi, Yas Island hotel to the F1 Paddock Club West entrance.
The key here was that none of the taxis I took knew anything about this option, and on all three days, guards were not allowing any cars, taxis or otherwise, even with paddock passes to enter the W Abu Dhabi area (which is in fact a hotel). On the third day the taxi took me directly to Yas Mall Abu Dhabi, which turned out to be a good option.
The Track
The race is 58 laps of a 5.2 km layout (total 306 km), first used in 2009. In 2009 it was the sport’s first ever twilight race, with the start taking place at sunset. Around 4,700 light fixtures are used to illuminate the track. Like other more recent twilight and night races on the calendar, FP1 and FP3 take place in the daytime. FP2, Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself take place at night or as the sun sets.
The pitlane at the Yas Marina Circuit is unique in F1, in that it features a tunnel that runs underneath Turn One. Drivers pass under the track at the pit lane exit, re-joining on the left-hand side before Turn 2.
The circuit had already seen four world champions crowned. Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Lewis Hamilton in 2014, Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Max Verstappen in 2021.
Mercedes had six wins at Yas Marina. Four with Lewis Hamilton (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019), Valtteri Bottas (2017) and Nico Rosberg (2015),
The Three-Day Programme
The three days had individual schedules. On Friday (5 Nov.) the “Turn 1 Rooftop Club Lounge” opened at 09:45, and the day kicked off with a “Masters Historic Racing” practice session (10:05-10:30). This was followed by a qualifying session (18:30-18:55), and two races, Saturday (20:00-20:25) and Sunday (10:05 – 10:30). The Sunday race was before the Paddock opened at 11:00.
I understood that this was the first “old-timer” race on this circuit. Typically the cars were from 1966-1985 (3-litre formula).
Whilst not part of the main F1 practice sessions, they were very well supported by the official teams.
Race 1 (Saturday) was won by Stuart Hall in a 1977 Shadow DN8 (entered by OC Racing). The fastest race lap was 1:51.561 or ~170.4 km/h.
Race 2 (Sunday) was won by Jamie Constable in a 1982 Tyrrell 011. He registered the fastest race lap of 1:49.569, ~173.5 km/h.
For comparison, the fastest F2 race lap was 1:38.818, and the fastest F1 race lap was by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) at 1:26.725.
Friday continued with a Formula 2 practice session (11:05-11:50), followed by an F2 qualifying session (15:00-15:30). The F2 sprint race was on Saturday (16:15-17:05) and the F2 race on Sunday (13:15-14:20).
The F2 is a spec-formula, which means that the car is utilised by all teams and drivers in the championship. It consists of a Dallara F2/24 chassis, and Mecachrome 3.4-litre V6 turbo engine.
The winner was Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing) with a time of 1:01:24.429 over 33 laps. The fastest lap was by Jak Crawford with a 1:38.818.
Leonardo Fornaroli, of Invicta Racing (above photo), had secured the 2025 F2 title before the final round in Abu Dhabi.
On the Friday there was also a F4 UAE qualifying session (15:55-16:25), and the first race was on Saturday (12:25-12:55), with a second race on Sunday (11:20-11:50).
Again there is a standard spec. for all the cars, namely a Tatuus F4-T421 chassis with 1-4 litres DOHC inline-4 turbocharged Abarth FT-J engine. As far as I know the winner of both races was Emanuele Olivieri.
The F1 first practice session was on Friday (13:30-14:30) and the second practice session at 17:00-18:00. The third practice session was on Saturday (14:30-15:30) and Qualifying session was at 18:00-19:00. The Grand Prix was at 17:00 on the Sunday.
Friday 5 December 2025
My plan was to get to the lounge before 12:00 to try to book a Track Tour or Pit Lane Walk. I had registered, and hoped that might be enough. It wasn’t, and I arrived too late for the tour or walk. There was another at 19:00, but I chatted with a couple who had done the walk, and they said it was too crowded and they didn’t see anything (her feet hurt).
I started by taking a taxi from the hotel. The driver knew the W Abu Dhabi hotel, but not the exact drop-off point. In any case, Paddock Pass or not, we were not allowed to enter the hotel area.
We drove past the golf course, along Yas St, cut-back near the end, tried and failed to approach the W Abu Dhabi hotel, drove on, and tried to enter near the West Marina, and failed. The taxi dropped me at another entrance towards the North corner stand, where I saw a parking sign for Paddock guests. There was a buggy that took me directly to the Turn 1 Paddock area. It worked out quite well, but took longer than I thought.
I found directions very confusing, however, there were people inside the track area and outside with the public transport, who were really very good in guiding everyone to the right place.
The little black box below shows where the Turn 1 lounge was situated.
There was a drop-off/pick-up area for the small busses and buggies inside the circuit. Then there was a security check, and a scanner for the ticket-badge. There I received a wrist band (different each day) and they clipped the ticket-badge.
Above is the list of lounges in the Paddock Club that sit over the pit lane. However, the Mercedes “rooftop club” lounge was off to the left, up two flights of stairs to the top of a purpose built observation area on the inside-corner of Turn 1. Mercedes shared the top floor with a high-end Emirati-hosted hospitality suite, branded Al Dhafra. There were other suites on the 1st and 2nd floors (i.e. Bateen Suite), and access to three other suites in the main grandstand (i.e. Mubadala Capital, Lunate and Al Muwaiji).
The Mercedes lounge was a very large open space, on the inside of Turn 1 with a comfortable covered terrace (and outside bar). Inside there was a reception, a DJ-stand, a main bar, a large screen and stage, a drive simulator, and the live cooking stations.
From the terrace there was an excellent view over the start, the track, the pits and pit lane, and Turn 1. It must be the best place on circuit.
The circuit is unique in that the pit lane goes under Turn 1 and releases the cars between Turn 1 and Turn 2. Below we can see this unusual pit lane exit. You also get a feel for the noise an F1 makes.
I stayed about five hours in the lounge, so I saw the two F1 practice sessions. From what I understood, they had to put in some solid lap times, but mostly they were “feeling” the tyres, the balance of the car, etc. I understood that the teams were not “pushing”, simply because an afternoon practice session was not representative of an evening race (e.g. weather and track temperature would be different).
The reality was that the vast majority of visitors to the lounge were either couples or small groups, and almost everyone was youngish and local. I did chat with a few people, but often I had little common ground with them. There were perhaps 4-5 people I saw on each of the three days, and with whom I could have a decent chat. All were living in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and they were in their 60s. For one person Abu Dhabi was new, but in the past he went to Houston or Las Vegas. For the others its was once a year local entertainment. Only one person (ex-US resident) stayed for the duration of each day (and like me, he arrived later in the day).
The “fan zone” is a dedicated public area inside the circuit perimeter (ticket required) designed to entertain fans away from the track action. It has large screens showing live sessions (practice, qualifying, race), sim-racing rigs and reaction games, merchandise stalls, food & drink areas, DJ and live music, and sponsor experiences (photo ops, giveaways, challenges, etc.).
The final task of the day was to find a taxi to get back to my hotel. The lounge reception told me to walk through the “fan zone” (seen above) and work my way to the W Abu Dhabi hotel and the taxi station.
The reality was that the guides inside the circuit and outside all directed me to the local bus going to the Yas Mall Abu Dhabi. No one mentioned, or even understood, the idea to go to the hotel. In the Mall, there were guides who directed me to the taxi station, and from there I returned to my hotel. Because I was “going with the flow” it was quite a simple trip.
Just counting the t-shirts, etc. Red Bull was by far the most popular team (also seen in my hotel) followed by McLaren and Ferrari.
Food and Drink
One of the most impressive parts of the lounge was the show-cooking. The reality was that much was pre-prepared, but the different dishes were composed as needed and were consistently excellent. I went with a very good fish starter, followed by an outstanding fillet of prime beef .
In terms of drinks, red and white wines and Moët & Chandon were free-flowing. The Champagne was too warm, the red (Terrazas de los Andes – Malbec 2021) was drinkable, and the white (I think Terrazas de los Andes – Chardonnay) was agreeable. Terrazas de los Andes was founded in 1996 as a Moët-Hennessy subsidiary in Argentina (so all LVMH-owned).
I was amazed that at the bar they could not produce a gin and tonic.
The wine was really free-flowing with plenty of girls filling up glasses, etc. I “acquired” a young Dutch girl living in Abu Dhabi who would always stop for a chat and top-up my glass. She told me she “respected the elderly” (joke – I think).
Saturday 6 December 2025
The lounge only opened at 12:00, so my plan was to be on the hotel beach until 14:00, and then catch the F1 Qualifying Session (for Pole Position), which was at 18:00.
This time I had a better idea about the circuit layout, but again my taxi driver was turned away from W Abu Dhabi hotel. However, this time I was dropped off near the West Grandstand. There was a hospitality entrance with reserved parking for Ferrari owners. With my Paddock Pass I walked through, chatted with a guard about the cars, and took a buggy to the Paddock area.
I missed the Track Tour and Pit Lane Walk, but caught the airshow.
Food wise, I managed a great ravioli dish, and something called a “cordon bleu“, which was very tasty (but nothing like a cordon bleu).
The Qualifying Session was in the evening under the Yas Marina lights, so the track was cooler, and a touch faster then during practice. With the 2025 championship still open going into this weekend, it had the flavour of a shootout between the three championship contenders, namely Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Several notable names failed to make it out of Q1, in particular Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly. In Q2 Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli were eliminated.
Max Verstappen delivered an impressive final lap, topping the timesheets with a 1:22.207 and claiming pole position. Lando Norris was close but ended up second fastest, about 0.201s back, but it kept his championship hopes alive. And Oscar Piastri completed the front-three in Q3, shadowing his McLaren teammate. As a comparison, Lando Norris had been fastest in the practice sessions with 1:23.083.
A neat tactical moment came in Q3, with Yuki Tsunoda, whose qualifying lap was compromised by floor damage, reportedly sacrificed his final flying lap to help Verstappen with a slipstream (tow). He will be replaced by Isack Hadjar for 2026, but will be the reserve driver for both Red Bull teams.
This time I found the best way to get back to my hotel. Just outside the Paddock there was a shuttle bus that went to the main circuit road entrance between the west and north stands. Then it was just a short walk out to the main road, where taxis were waiting.
Sunday 7 December 2025
Sunday was race day, so the only objective was to be on the Mercedes terrace at 17:00.
Race day was crowded, so my taxi took me directly to the Yas Mall Abu Dhabi. I didn’t like the idea, but he said it was the only way to be sure to get on the circuit bus. And he was right. He also said don’t wait in line, just get on the first empty bus, they all go the same places. Again he was right. I arrived at the same place I had exited yesterday. There was a hospitality entrance, and a bus to the Paddock Club.
I arrived at about 15:00, listened to the National Anthem, saw the Fly Past, and got some food. This time I tried the rack of spring lamb, followed by cheese.
Verstappen led from pole and maintained control early. Piastri overtook Norris early on to run second before strategic pit stops shuffled the order. Piastri’s hard-to-medium tyre switch mid-race impacted his pace, but he kept second. Norris delivered a controlled, mature performance to protect the position he needed to secure the title. I actually left a bit early to avoid the crowds. The result was obvious, except for a potential Norris disaster, which did not occur.
You may have noticed that I have not added my photos of the races. Look at my two videos. I was very well placed on Turn 1, which is the slowest on the circuit. The above video is the first curve of the race, and below nearer the end of the race. Even in the best viewing spot on the circuit, these cars are on the curve for about 0.5 seconds. I was lucky to catch them. With the iPhone, it’s just “point and hope”.
Conclusions
I like Formula 1, but I’m not passionate enough to spend my time watching them go round-and-around. I was in a great place on the track, the atmosphere was fine, the food really good, but I can’t see myself rushing to go to another race. But it was an interesting experience, so who knows.
