Al Tareq Al Ameri – shepherding Yas Marina Circuit into maturity

Gary Meenaghan speaks with the Yas Marina Circuit CEO, working in the job since late 2013 to push the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix forward. From The National's F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Magazine.

Yas Marina Circuit CEO Al Tariq Al Ameri speaks during an interview in his office at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in October. Christopher Pike / The National / October 28, 2014

On display inside the plush office of Al Tareq Al Ameri are a trio of Formula One helmets, a selection of paddock passes and an artistic rendering of Jules Bianchi competing in the 2010 GP2 Series.

Such furnishings suggest the new chief executive of Yas Marina Circuit is a long-standing supporter of motorsports. Such inferences would be incorrect.

“I’ll be honest, growing up, I did not follow F1,” he said as he prepares to oversee his first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.

“Before joining the team here, I had not visited the circuit nor been to the race. Now, though, I do understand the level of excitement that the sport brings.

“I have been exposed to it since the day I joined and I do get passionate about it every now and then – even though I try to be unbiased because of my position.”

Al Ameri, whose background is in aviation and engineering, joined Yas in 2012 as head of the commercial division.

He experienced his first live grand prix at his home race later that year and was immediately hooked.

“I couldn’t move my head away from the screen or the track,” he said.

Six months later, he attended the Monaco Grand Prix and then the British Grand Prix, gaining valuable insights into how other venues engage with their spectators.

When Richard Cregan, the former chief executive at Yas Marina, departed for the Sochi Autodrome in late 2013 to oversee the new race in Russia, Al Ameri already had been groomed for the position.

The promotion was obvious.

This season he has attended “six or seven” races and is learning more about the sport and its history all the time. He also remains in close contact with Cregan.

Al Ameri appreciates purists’ concerns regarding the introduction of double points for this week’s race in the UAE capital and speaks strongly of ensuring traditional grand prix venues, such as Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, are not muscled off the calendar by new money.

When asked whether there has been anything that has surprised him since becoming chief executive, he paused, looked at his watch and smiled: “How much time do we have?

“People underestimate the number of activities required to host an international event. It is literally a year of work for the team and myself and we engage with a lot of Abu Dhabi entities to ensure the event goes smooth and successful.

“It is amazing, the level of activities that happen to make this event a success.

“What I have learnt is that, even though I fully believe the circuit was a success for the past five years, we have to cater to all the community.

“It is about understanding how to attract certain communities. We have achieved some success, but there is further work to be done.”

The first recognised initiative that the team implemented was last year’s introduction of Abu Dhabi Hill, a vast, grassy embankment that provides sweeping panoramic views of the track.

The tickets cost less and are marketed towards families and picnickers. After the sold-out success of the hill last year, this weekend will see an expanded area, taking the track’s capacity up from 55,000 to 60,000.

“This will be the best-attended event for us, definitely,” Al Ameri said. “We have to investigate things for future years, but we operate on the understanding that the more people who come to the race the merrier.”

He refused to rule out further expansion, but said no decisions will be made until a thorough post-race analysis has been carried out.

The same can be said of the sport. Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 chief, has hinted the double-points final-race haul will disappear next season, but a decision is unlikely to be taken until after Sunday’s season finale.

The rule has attracted much criticism by fans who say it makes a mockery of the drivers’ championship.

It is no surprise, however, given the added focus that will be on Yas Marina this weekend, Al Ameri is in favour of the new system.

“From my perspective, I like it because it has been introduced to provide competition and excitement,” said Al Ameri, who speaks to Ecclestone on the phone twice a month.

“Fans want things to be in play until the last minute and the double points has done that. To keep everyone engaged until the last minute is a good thing.

“It might seem disadvantageous for some, but if it keeps everything in play until the last minute then everyone keeps pushing and developing until the end – and that can only be good for the sport.”

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