In 2019, Lewis Hamilton crowned his sixth F1 championship-winning season after a final victory at the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 on Sunday evening at Yas Marina Circuit. The thrilling race saw the Red Bull of Max Verstappen start beside him on the front row and Mercedes teammate Bottas at the back of the grid.
Hamilton battled hard for first place, keeping the pack at bay in the closing laps as the sun set on the 2019 season. Fans watched the action live from the multiple grandstands at Yas Marina Circuit and from their favourite Abu Dhabi Hill. However, in 2020, the sun looks like it will be setting on a far more different setting, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hope towards the end of 2020
Motorsport fans can rejoice as world-class motorsport action will be returning to the UAE with Yas Marina Circuit hosting the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 on 13th December and closing the 2020 season.
The 12th instalment of this F1 racing circuit will be taking place without spectators because of the continued global situation with Covid-19. The F1 championship will be wrapping up a highly anticipated and exciting season. The event will have potentially plenty at stake for both, the drivers and constructor standings.

Building a safe global stage
The entire Yas Island will be transforming into an ‘F1 biosphere’, becoming one of the largest ‘safe zones’ in the region. The island will have access allowed only for essential F1 staff, drivers, and teams. There will be significant stakeholder collaboration and planning across UAE government entities and will be aligned with F1 management. There will also be precautionary health measures in place during the F1 weekend on Yas Island. The measures will prioritise the wellbeing of the F1 community while simultaneously maintaining the competitive integrity of the final F1 race of the season.
The ‘safe zone’ on Yas Island has been made possible thanks to close collaboration between private and public stakeholders in Abu Dhabi. Organisations across a wide range of sectors from health are coming together to deliver a world-class event experience amid a global pandemic. The goal is to enable fans around the world to savour a spectacular finale to the 2020 F1 season. Millions of fans across the globe will get to follow live updates thanks to a wealth of multimedia content on the Circuit’s online channels.

Expecting the greats at the closing event
2020’s race weekend will run until 13th December, with some of the biggest stars like Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas, already expected to take part. In line with 2018 and 2019, Lewis Hamilton will be aiming for his third consecutive Abu Dhabi triumph. In total, this will be the sixth one. His Mercedes team has been even more dominant, finishing top of the constructor standings for the past six years in a row.
The Acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management (ADMM), Saif Al Noaimi, expressed his gratefulness for the commitment of F1 management, the teams, and the partners in Abu Dhabi. Innovative collaboration in these recent unprecedented times will allow the hosting of a safe and competitive final race of the year. He also expressed special thanks to the committed sponsors ADNOC and Etihad Airways, who continue to support this important sporting spectacle on Yas Island.
Chase Carey, the CEO of the Formula One Group, also expressed his delight of the possibility of upholding the traditional end of season race with the valued and special partners at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. He spoke about the challenges faced and how Abu Dhabi will be making up for it by being the best place to bring the 2020 season to an end.

A promising event
The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 is not the first global sporting event being hosted on Yas Island during the Covid-19 pandemic with an innovative ‘safe zone’ model. July 2020 had UFC hosting the two-week Fight Island on Yas Island. The event contributed to Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a respected and safe destination for elite sporting events.
The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 will be concluding a season which began in Austria at the start of July, a race where Bottas finished first. Further events have followed suit, with Hamilton showing his class to emerge victorious in Styria, Hungary, Britain and, recently, in Spain. On the entertainment front, each year saw this F1 championship being graced by some of the hottest global music stars. In 2020, it remains to be seen whether - Yas Marina Circuit brings the stars to the island or will fans have to catch their favourite stars performing from their studio, online.

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