Drivers object to late race starts but Abu Dhabi wants special start time for finale
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix organisers want a special start time for their race
The F1 drivers have collectively voiced their unhappiness about late race start times. A GPDA representative confirmed to Autosport the Malaysian Grand Prix might have been re-started had it not been started so late:
It wasn’t the rain that was the problem in Malaysia, because it can rain just as heavily at 2pm as it did at 6pm. But there was no chance to restart the race when it started so late because it got too dark – and that was the problem.
Bernie Ecclestone wants the late start to remain because they mean larger television audiences in Europe. Meanwhile the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix organisers are hoping its first race later this year will get an unusual start time of its own.
Circuit manager Philippe Gurdjian said:
We have a certain idea of what we would like to do, but I cannot tell you today what it is! We have a very specific idea, and I hope we will be able to do it – and it will be as unique as the track.
So what kind of time do they have in mind? At present the race is scheduled for a 3pm start (11am in Britain).
There has been no indication that they are planning to fully illuminate the Yas Island circuit to run a night race. In November Abu Dhabi sees sunlight between 6am and 6pm, limiting then to that time frame.
If they start the race much earlier the broadcast time would be inconvenient for Ecclestone. and if they start it any later they run the risk of the sun setting before the race finishes. So what could they be planning?
Whatever it is, they better tread carefully. They’ve been handed the privilege of hosting the final race of the year, which could in all likelihood turn out to be the championship decider, and F1 must not have another repeat of the Sepang debacle.
More on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Sean said on 11th April 2009, 7:20
floodlights have nothing to do with the sun in your eyes, nor does sitting higher in the car. tinted tear offs are used not tinted visors. and dont get me wrong, the tracks are boring when your watching someone turn left for 4 hours, but when they do that 3 cars wide at those places it gets pretty exciting. its not quite as much fun as watching a race finish with a 24 second gap to 2nd place like in f1 but hey…..
Oliver said on 11th April 2009, 8:44
If you are sitting higher in a vehicle you can discern shadows more easily.
Mikkowl said on 11th April 2009, 8:53
Are you sure about tinted tear-offs? That is illogical. Having that would make the sun-block much less effective as you tear them off one by one. There would also be glare coming in from the sides around the edges.
In the Massa Ferrari communication from Malaysia he did shout for a ‘clear visor’, not clear tear-offs. This article on the official formula 1 website states they usually have tinted visors. It is also clear on photos of the drivers that the visor is darkened evenly all the way up around where the hinge attachment point is, not just where the tear-offs are.
Macca said on 11th April 2009, 12:47
I think it might be like the day/night cricket where they start in natual light and the flood lights take over when it gets to dark.
ruud said on 11th April 2009, 13:01
i’ll bet it will be a short time after sunrise. having a night race or after the sunset start of the race isn’t unique, singapore has done it, free practice there is the sun setting and at start of qualifying. i bet its early morning, weird but unique. or maybe breaking dawn
Pete Walker said on 11th April 2009, 13:34
Unique… it surely has to be a sunset idea. Sunrise makes no sense for trackside spectators or competitors and any anything else would just be during daylight hours, not exactly an original concept.
Having the sun set during the final race would seem fitting as the season draws so a close, and could make for some spectacular photographs. They will definitely need some sort of lighting though.
If the race is to finish in darker conditions, maybe they’re planning a big fireworks finish to cap off the season. It might sound tacky to some, but I thought Singapore missed a trick by not having fireworks at the end of the podium celebration.
Macca said on 11th April 2009, 14:05
Or fireworks as the winner pass’s the checkered flag.
Piffles said on 11th April 2009, 16:57
An F1 race starts at 2:00 PM local time. Full stop.
Leon said on 11th April 2009, 19:00
Ecclestone has been brilliantly described in another place as ‘coin operated’. Fantastic ! Describes perfectly his attitude. Who pays most gets everything. Who pays least gets thrown out.
Classic Circuit with atmosphere in spades ? Too bad. If it doesn’t pay the bloodthirsty rate BE sets. Out it goes.
Shiny new circuit costing billions and paying BE’s billion dollar fees, but built in a place where nobody lives? Great ! Welcome !
Tradition ? Don’t make me laugh ! Huge Crowds and fantastic atmosphere ? Not interested if they don’t pay what I want !
How we are all going to miss Montreal, Silverstone, and all the rest waiting for the chop because Bernie has big personal bills to pay and F1 is his milch cow.
manatcna said on 12th April 2009, 2:00
Looking forward to seeing the cars going “through” the hotel.
Wonder what they charge for bed ‘n breakfast :)
David A said on 12th April 2009, 23:59
Mother nature rained on Moto GP’s parade!
JohnBt said on 13th April 2009, 3:27
Stick to the 2pm start, should rain arrive, there’s room for a delayed start as light will still be adequate. We can fathom cancellation if the rain refuses to halt, due to nature. Bernie has lost too much F1 fans, not because of the viewing time. They left F1 due to the rubbish politics and the stupid rule changes from Max/FIA. So now he needs new superficial audiences to fill his pocket. FOM better start preparing free tickets at Abu Dhabi to fill empty seats. If the troll is smart he’ll reschedule Interlagos for the last race. We don’t need to be billionaires to understand the F1 format.
DGR-F1 said on 14th April 2009, 8:57
Its probably got more to do with the time everyone in the Middle East wakes up after their afternoon siesta than anything else. Also the temperatures out there get outrageously hot – its not so noticable in Bahrain since its an island surrounded by water, but most of the other countries in that part of the world close down during the afternoon as its too hot to do anything.
The only sensible times for racing will be early in the morning or in the evening, and from what I remember, there isn’t really a ‘twilight’ either – one minute there is daylight, the next minute its darkness.
Which might cause a few headaches around the paddock :-)
On another note – the MotoGP in Qatar was delayed by some serious rain, so the organisers in Abu Dhabi might have more problems than you think!
PJA said on 14th April 2009, 16:11
We have already had afternoon races, twilight races and floodlit night races.
In terms of European start time we have also had all variations on a Sunday from very early morning to morning to regular afternoon to evening.
The only things they can do, if they want it to be unique is not have the race on a Sunday, or try to do a sunrise/sunset race as some have suggested. Considering no one seems to have heard anything about floodlights how long would these take to sort out.
In the end I don’t think we will have a unique start time, just some PR fuss claiming it to be unique.
I agree with the other posters in that I would prefer the season finale to be at Brazil, but at the end of the day its all down to who is prepared to pay the most.
bgbaum said on 15th April 2009, 23:19
Regarding the earlier posts that commented on “empty grandstands” in Abu Dhabi… not to worry.
I tried booking two tickets directly from the race organizers the day after tickets went on sale. All of the seats in the main grandstands were already gone with mostly singles remaining in the most interesting stands. Only the two stands with the cheapest seats still had a decent supply of tickets remaining. I was fortunate to get two very good seats in the U-shaped North Grandstand.
Brazil may have more passionate fans, but race fans in the Middle East are very knowledgeable and the atmosphere will be exciting – especially if the final race again decides the title.
Simon said on 21st April 2009, 15:56
There are a lot of European ex pats living in the UAE and many of my friends bought tickets in the first few days that they were on sale. Lewis Hamilton got a lot of people interested in F1 over the last 2 seasons and now that Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota are doing so well many people that I know are switching on to F1. I just hope it goes down to the last race this year as it has done for the last 2. I’m sure that Bernie the “Ringmaster” will do all he can to ensure that it does. Don’t rule out the big boys just yet, remember there are still 140 driver points up for grabs and so far the championship leader only has 21.
Simon said on 21st April 2009, 14:59
Could be something to do with prayer times considering the UAE is a muslim country. Prayer times for that day in Abu Dhabi are 1545 and 1743hrs.