“Dutch,” said the woman wearing the black burka, sitting to my immediate right.
Of course. I had asked her what nationality the big flag-waving group in the section next to us was; I didn’t recognise the red, white, and blue of the national flag of the Netherlands, but it made perfect sense, given the orange-shirted group’s propensity for squealing at every mention on the public address system of Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.
Son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, Max was born in Belgium, though he was raised in the Netherlands and races under the Dutch flag. The orange shirts stood and cheered and waved their little flags when Verstappen passed by ahead of the start of the final-round Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, good enough for them to get on television, which made them cheer louder.
It was unfortunate, then, that their cheering decelerated after Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri crashed in turn 1 on the first lap, an incident for which Verstappen, already the 2024 champion, was penalised 10 seconds by the officials. Whom Verstappen later called “stupid idiots” over his radio, but that’s our Max! He has already been sentenced to post-season community service work in Rwanda after dropping the F-bomb at an official FIA press conference in Singapore. Those FIA officials let the “stupid idiots” pass, and as Verstappen charged back to a sixth-place finish, the orange shirts cheered and left happy, if their jostling and high-fiving in the bathroom after the race was any indication. Beer may also have been a factor.
I have attended F1 races in the US and Canada, and when our host in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the newly minted Genesis Magma Racing, offered as part of the trip here a chance to see the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP from a seat in the grandstands, it was easy to accept. Are the fans different here? Yes, they are.
They were, in fact, the happiest race fans I’ve ever seen and, except for Japan, the least litter-prone. There were no boos, only cheers, even when favourite drivers suffered misfortune. It was strange but ultimately uplifting, sort of like attending a showing of the Barbie movie, where the fact that everyone else was laughing made you laugh, too. A little.
It was good being in a very comfortable grandstand seat for the race on Sunday, especially after watching Saturday qualifying from inside the Skybridge, a massive tube connected to the W Hotel that extends across the Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit. Entirely soundproofed, you barely hear the cars passing underneath, barely see them through the glass walls. Instead of the sound of engines, or at least the narration from the few TVs, there was constant techno-pop which no one seemed to be enjoying, except for the Velocity Girls, who wore clingy outfits and bejewelled helmets and danced up and down the Skybridge. Mixed drinks with umbrellas may have been involved.
It was mostly annoying, but the food was good, though the evening ended early: The passes promised access to the Eminem concert after qualifying, but apparently the W or F1, I was never sure which, re-sold our tickets. I was ambivalent, but the Detroit-based members of our group really wanted to see the Detroit-based rapper in Abu Dhabi, for the irony, if nothing else. The advertised price of a Saturday-only Skybridge pass was $871. The food wasn’t that good. But nothing is free over here.
As for the race itself: Entertaining, if seldom dramatic. Lando Norris managed to stink up the show, leading from pole position to the win for McLaren, wrapping up the Constructors’ Championship. Lewis Hamilton, in his last race for Mercedes, said all the right things in pre-race interviews. He qualified poorly but fought back to a fourth-place finish, a positive enough ending for an amazing career so far, with Ferrari in his future. It pleased the couple to our immediate left, who said they had come solely to see Sir Lewis close out his 12 seasons with Mercedes, and they left happy.
The whole time during the race, we were encouraged to stay in the grandstands after the chequered flag, “to appear in Brad Pitt’s F1 movie,” which still hasn’t finished filming or been properly titled, despite a release date next June. We didn’t stay, but Planet F1 did, thus revealing a fake post-race podium ceremony where Norris and second-place finisher Carlos Sainz were demoted, replaced by Charles Leclerc and George Russell, with Brad Pitt’s character, the previously washed-up Sonny Hayes, taking the win. Sorry, I should have said, “Spoiler alert!” Nice job by Pitt, who incidentally turns 61 next week.
A good time was had by all. Except for Max Verstappen, who doesn’t even seem to have a good time when he wins. Maybe if he only knew how many people in orange shirts were cheering for him . . .
