1st November. 2009. ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX. SUNDAY. Sebastian Vettel clear of the field as the sun sets on the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last night. Stephen Lock / The National
United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi - November 4th, 2009: Yas Island from the roof of the Yas Island Rotana Hotel. (Galen Clarke/The National)
As the track is laid down in 2009, the marina slowly begins to take shape. Next, the remaining sand will be dug up and the area flooded with sea water. Courtesy Yas Marina Circuit
Yas Island, UAE - April 20, 2009 - The Formula One racetrack is due to be finished for the Yas Island Grand Prix in November 2009. (Nicole Hill / The National)
Yas Island, UAE - April 20, 2009 - The structure of the Yas Island grand prix circuit hotel. The hotel is due to be finished for the Grand Prix in November 2009. (Nicole Hill / The National)
Yas Island, UAE - April 20, 2009 - Ferrari World is due to be finished for the Yas Island Grand Prix in November 2009. Nicole Hill / The National
The Formula One race from Shams Tower, Yas Marina Circuit, 1st November 2009. Ryan Carter / The National
1st November. 2009. ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX. SUNDAY. The start of the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday. Stephen Lock / The National
The Yas hotel and marina. Stephen Lock / The National
Rubens Barrichello rounds the hair pin before the long straight on the first practice session yesterday. Stephen Lock / The National
30th October. 2009. ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX. World champion Jenson Button on his second practice round last night as he passes past the Yas hotel. Stephen Lock / The National
Formula One has been part of the Abu Dhabi scene for just over a decade. The first race took place on November 1, 2009, and in one way at least, the journey to the Yas Island venue this year will be as much of a voyage into the unknown as it was 10 years ago.
This week The National reported that racegoers will be asked to park their cars at Yas Mall before making their way to the track, whereas in 2009 we all wondered how we would get to the island in the first place and whether the traffic would tailback for hours. The organisers advised all racegoers to be in their seats by 2pm, three hours before the start of what was then the first day-night race in F1's history. It all turned out just fine. I imagine it will be the same this weekend.
Looking back to 2009 and comparing Yas Island to how it is now is not just a nostalgic walk back to how we were, but a reminder of how much of the vision of Yas has been delivered and how much the city has changed since then.
Formula One weekend in 2009 marked a moment of formal introduction for residents to the big idea of the cultural island of Saadiyat and the entertainment hub that is Yas Island.
The kilometre-long Sheikh Khalifa Bridge from Port Zayed to Saadiyat and beyond opened just two weeks before the race, connecting the Corniche with the islands and providing a tiny taste of what Abu Dhabi might become. For many who journeyed to the track that weekend, it was the first time they had come into proper contact with either island, firmly shifting their perspective beyond the renderings and scale models of how the areas would eventually look.
The kilometre-long Sheikh Khalifa Bridge from Mina Port to Saadiyat and beyond opened just two weeks before the race Rich-Joseph Facun / The National
Back then, the verges had been landscaped on the Saadiyat highway, but the big pieces of the jigsaw such as the first of the museums, hotels, housing projects and a university campus were some way from completion. Even the award-winning Norman Foster-designed pavilion, now such a distinctive feature of Saadiyat, was yet to open at Expo 2010 Shanghai, let alone be transported back to the UAE and reconstructed in the cultural district.
As for Yas itself, there was the track, the marina, the brooding mass of the yet-to-open Ferrari World and the quiet-calm of the not-yet-played-upon Yas Links golf course, the hotels and the exquisite attention to detail in the street furniture surrounding the track. So much for the tangibles; it was the intangibles that felt most at play in that moment.
As the sun set on the Yas Marina Circuit on race day in 2009, it felt like the start of a new era in F1. Not just because Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber swept to a one-two finish, marking the beginning of Red Bull's moment of supremacy in the sport, or because Jenson Button picked up the world title for BrawnGP, completing a perfect year for a team that would become Mercedes GP for 2010 and begin its own period of domination four years later, or even because the twilight race had proven a unique experience with the teams and fans.
More than that, the race-day weekend felt like a days-long festival of the city. It was a moment when Abu Dhabi announced itself to a global TV audience and was an occasion, as experts said at the time, to confirm its place as both a capital city of the future and one of the centres of the new Arab world.
Free concerts on the Corniche and megastars such as Beyonce, performing to F1 ticketholders at Yas Arena, underlined the turbocharged moment Abu Dhabi was living in. New islands were opening up. The vision that had been outlined earlier in the decade was fast becoming reality.
The weekend was also a gathering of the kaleidoscopic communities that make up this country and of the band of diehard F1 fans who were curious to see if a world-class circuit and associated infrastructure could really have been pulled from the sand in a matter of months. They have kept returning ever since, drawn back by the "mind-blowing" facilities on Yas, as F1 expert and former team boss Eddie Jordan was prompted to describe the circuit this week.
Having climbed a mountain to meet that deadline a decade ago, Yas Island is still moving forward. If the fixed requirements of the Formula One calendar required development of the circuit at hyperspeed, the story of Yas since 2009 has been one of managed growth. Tomorrow the world's largest indoor air-conditioned climbing wall will open to the public. Clymb joins three theme parks, the largest mall in the emirate and other tourism assets. More is still to come.
There was an element of "if you build it, they will come" about Yas Island 10 years ago, to plunder that oft-used line from the 1989 film Field of Dreams. A decade on, they are still building and we are still coming back for more.
Nick March is an assistant editor-in-chief for The National
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Day 4, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Not much was expected – on Sunday or ever – of Hasan Ali as a batsman. And yet he lit up the late overs of the Pakistan innings with a happy cameo of 29 from 25 balls. The highlight was when he launched a six right on top of the netting above the Pakistan players’ viewing area. He was out next ball.
Stat of the day – 1,358 There were 1,358 days between Haris Sohail’s previous first-class match and his Test debut for Pakistan. The lack of practice in the multi-day format did not show, though, as the left-hander made an assured half-century to guide his side through a potentially damaging collapse.
The verdict As is the fashion of Test matches in this country, the draw feels like a dead-cert, before a clatter of wickets on the fourth afternoon puts either side on red alert. With Yasir Shah finding prodigious turn now, Pakistan will be confident of bowling Sri Lanka out. Whether they have enough time to do so and chase the runs required remains to be seen.
