Making sure everything is ready and set to go ahead of the big race is a huge team of dedicated cleaners, painters, gardeners and skilled technical experts who have been hard at work across the circuit’s track, grandstands and landscaped areas.
As one of the world’s iconic motorsports venue, it’s vital that the circuit looks its very best for the fans will be packed into the stands and the many millions watching live on TV around the globe.
Squads of painters have worked around the clock to apply a fresh coat of paint to the 5.5km track, using a total of 4,500 litres of ‘Yas blue’ paint, 720 litres of ivory, 1,440 litres of red and 1,440 litres of white paint.
Overall two to three tonnes of fresh paint will be used to freshen up the Circuit, with 500kg being applied to the kerbing each day ahead of the event that runs from Nov 28 to Dec 2.
Before this year’s five-day racing festival, a small army of cleaners will be given the essential task of clearing away the dust from the circuit’s grandstands.
Equipped with high-pressure hoses, the team will set about tackling the Circuit’s 228 canopies over a mammoth 6,920 hours of non-stop cleaning work in order have the venue looking perfect and ready to welcome spectators.
Away from the track and grandstands, Yas Marina Circuit’s 88.4 acres of landscaped areas are also given special attention with teams of gardeners pruning and planting 2.52 acres of seasonal flowers and petunias.
The green-fingered gardeners will install more than 1,750 different kinds of foliage along with 886 varieties of Palms and 529 potted plants to bring a splash of natural colour and the wonderful scented aroma of flowers to the circuit.
While the huge cleaning operation is going on ahead of the F1 long weekend’s official start, behind the scenes the huge logistical task of organising this motorsport event is already well underway.
Teams of motor racing experts and logistics managers direct fleets of transporters carrying everything required for the FIA F2 Championship and the Trophy Round F4UAE race.
These championships, which will provide the F1 champion drivers of tomorrow, with the F2 Drivers’ Title to be determined during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Squads of highly skilled technicians and safety experts will inspect every inch of the circuit as part of intensive procedures to ensure the safety of the drivers, teams and the spectators watching the action unfold.
With the huge to-do list slowly being completed - job by job, the time arrives for the 10 teams to land in Abu Dhabi.
Fresh from the season’s penultimate race in Brazil, the teams and the hundreds of personnel that travel with them will sweep into the UAE’s capital city in a fleet of planes, ships and lorries, all loaded with the essentials that keep F1 on the road and racing.
In total, seven special charter flights will land at Abu Dhabi International Airport, with six flying from the UK and one from Europe.
Each plane will be loaded with an average of 100 tonnes of gear, while Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port will handle 336 containers – totalling 1,000 tonnes – filled with the kit needed to make sure all of the F1 and F2 teams are able to put on another thrilling display of motorsport action.
It will take more than 400 people using 70 forklift trucks to offload the vast amounts of the equipment once it reaches Yas Marina Circuit while 600 trucks will move the gear to and from the Circuit.
As well as taking up 18 villas and 70 garages the teams will go through 30,000 litres of drinks during the race weekend, while more than 200 cylinders of gas and four tonnes of dry ice will be delivered.
After 20 rounds of racing, the 2019 F1 season is looking to provide a thrilling grand finale in Abu Dhabi.
