Yas Marina Circuit
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Good for Racing?
Better than it used to be. The 2021 rebuild took out the chicane before the north hairpin and the slow southern corners to make the lap easier to race on, and F1 counted 96 overtakes in 2024. The best chance comes under braking for Turn 6 at the end of the back straight, with a second chance on the run to Turn 9.
Verstappen’s pole lap, animated on the right, is flat out for 67% of the lap. The front can still be static, though, and in 2025 the top three all finished within one place of their grid slot.
Yas Marina Circuit
Strategy Factors
2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
What to Look Out for at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The December 4-6 race closes the 2026 season. A pit stop here costs around 21s, cheap enough to keep a second stop on the table if the tires fade. F1 put the Safety Car rate at 38% and the VSC rate at 50% before the 2025 race.
The start is short and sharp. Pole is just 194m from the Turn 1 braking point, so there’s barely room for a slipstream move before the first corner. Late on, watch the final sector, where traction eats into the rear tires.
Pit stop time loss, Safety Car and VSC rates, pole to Turn 1 distance, 2024 overtakes and the main passing spots.
Current circuit length, 306.188km race distance and the December 4-6, 2026 race weekend.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Tire Strategy
The C3, C4 and C5 were Pirelli’s choice for 2025. Its main concern was thermal wear on the rears from the traction zones in the last sector, and graining was far less of a problem than it once was.
The top ten split between one and two stops. Six stopped once, including Max Verstappen, who ran 23 laps on mediums and 35 on hards. Oscar Piastri flipped that, running 41 laps on hards before a late switch to mediums, and Lance Stroll did the same. Norris and Leclerc stopped twice, while the two soft starters were in by lap 8.
Pirelli's 2025 compound choice, the rear thermal wear from the last sector and the note on reduced graining.
Stint lengths and compounds for the 2025 top ten finishers shown in the tire strategy chart.
Yas Marina Circuit Sector by Sector and Corner by Corner
This breakdown uses the speeds, gears and braking points from Max Verstappen‘s 1:22.207 pole lap in 2025 qualifying. He was at full throttle for 67% of the lap and spent 11.7 seconds on the brakes across seven braking zones. He reached 331 km/h on the back straight, and the slowest point was 68 km/h at the Turn 6 chicane.
FastF1 timing data for Max Verstappen's 1:22.207 pole lap, used for the speeds, gears, braking points and sector figures
The two corners needing two seconds of braking, and Turn 6 deceleration and pedal load
Braking for Turn 12 with lateral load still on the car
History of Yas Marina Circuit
Abu Dhabi’s first race in 2009 was also F1’s first day-night race, and Yas Marina has since settled several championships, most recently in December 2025.
First race date and start time, the 2010, 2014, 2021 and 2025 title deciders and the list of winners.
Which corners the 2021 changes replaced, plus the lap records for the current and previous layouts.
The pit exit tunnel, the lit hotel over the track and the three areas rebuilt for 2021.
How Much Does the Yas Marina Circuit Cost?
There's no official figure for what Yas Marina cost to build. Reuters said it was billed as the most expensive racetrack ever built, but no cost for the circuit alone has been published. The hosting fee is estimated at about $42m a year, paid by promoter Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, and the deal runs to 2030.
How Much Did the Yas Marina Circuit Cost to Build?
There's no official figure. Aldar Properties developed the circuit on Yas Island for the 2009 season finale, and it's now owned by the Abu Dhabi government. Reuters wrote in 2021 that it was billed as the most expensive racetrack ever built, but the circuit was part of a wider island project with a hotel and a marina, and no cost for the track alone has been published. The 2021 redesign widened the north hairpin, replaced four slow marina corners with one banked turn and eased the hotel corners. It came with the contract extension, and its cost was never disclosed.
How Much Is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hosting Fee?
About $42m a year, although it has never been published. RacingNews365 put it at $40m in 2022 and $42m in 2023 after talking to promoters, F1 and teams, and GPblog said in September 2026 that it's estimated at around $42m. The promoter, Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, signed the current deal on December 9, 2021, together with the track changes, and it runs to 2030 with Abu Dhabi as the season finale. The 2026 race was in doubt because of the Middle East conflict until Stefano Domenicali confirmed it on October 3. GPblog notes that a promoter that cancels still owes the fee.
Yas Marina billed as the most expensive racetrack ever built
The three areas changed in 2021, with no cost given
The $42m fee estimate in 2023
The fee estimated at around $42m in 2026 and the cancellation rules
The December 2021 deal with ADMM to 2030, linked to the track changes
Domenicali confirming the 2026 race on October 3
How Much Are Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Tickets?
General admission on Abu Dhabi Hill was listed at AED1,695 ($462) for three days, the cheapest way in. The promoter's grandstand tickets cover four days and start at AED2,395 ($652) in Marina, while the Main Grandstand on the pit straight is AED3,495 ($952) for three days. Hospitality starts at AED3,995 ($1,088) for Horizon Terrace. That makes Abu Dhabi the 21st cheapest of the 23 races in our ticket price table, and dynamic pricing means these figures move with demand.
Yas Marina and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Questions
Yas Marina lost three of its slowest sections in 2021. The chicane before the north hairpin went and the hairpin was widened, four corners at the south end became one banked left-hander, and the hotel corners were eased. The lap shrank to 5.281km, and the aim was a faster circuit with more overtaking.
Anything set at Yas Marina before 2021 came on a longer, slower configuration, so it can’t be compared with today’s 5.281km lap. Kevin Magnussen’s 1:25.637 from 2024 is the current race lap record. Lewis Hamilton’s 1:39.283 from 2019 is the record for the old layout, which no longer exists.
The best overtaking spot at Yas Marina is Turn 6, where drivers brake hard at the end of the back straight for a tight left-right. A second chance comes on the run toward the banked Turn 9. After that the lap tightens around the hotel, and the braking zone for Turn 12 is blind.
It’s a dusk race, so the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix starts in fading daylight and finishes under floodlights. Yas Marina’s first race in 2009 was F1’s first day-night event, with a 5pm local start. The hotel over the track has its own LED lighting, so the backdrop changes as the evening goes on.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen share the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix record with five wins each at Yas Marina. Hamilton won in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and Verstappen took five of the six races from 2020 to 2025. Sebastian Vettel is next with three, including the first race in 2009.
Abu Dhabi pays an estimated $42m a year to host its Grand Prix, according to RacingNews365 and GPblog, although the figure has never been published. Promoter Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management signed the current deal in December 2021, and it keeps the race as the season finale until 2030.
There’s no official figure. Reuters said Yas Marina was billed as the most expensive racetrack ever built, but Aldar built it as part of a wider Yas Island project with a hotel and a marina, and the cost of the track alone has never been published. The cost of the 2021 redesign wasn’t disclosed either.
