Abu Dhabi GP was packed with an unprecedented series of firsts

Crowds attend the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. — Supplied photo

Dubai — Yas Marina Circuit on Monday announced that the 2014 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the most successful to date, packed with an unprecedented series of firsts.

With the largest ever capacity, at 60,000 people — an increase of 5,000 tickets in 2013 — crowds were drawn from all over the world. This year’s weekend saw the highest number of overseas visitors, with 46 per cent of all race goers coming from outside the UAE.

Every year Yas Marina Circuit conducts a customer satisfaction survey and this year’s report, based on 1,200 10-minute, face-to-face interviews across the weekend, demonstrated the extent of the fan experience. Eighty-eight per cent said Abu Dhabi was the best Grand Prix weekend they had ever attended. Further, 98 per cent of respondents said they would recommend attending to others. Incredibly, Yas Marina Circuit scored 100 per cent on overall visitor experience, with 100 per cent saying they would return to attend the event in 2015.

The sporting narrative of Hamilton vs. Rosberg’s ‘Duel in the Desert’ and the double points on offer drew global media interest, and saw the highest ever number of media personnel at Yas Marina Circuit. The Media Centre hosted 440 journalists from all over the world — the biggest media presence at the circuit in the event’s six-year history — resulting in 8,306 articles in print and online worldwide, the biggest ever spread and amount of coverage.

As well as record levels of traditional media engagement, Yas Marina Circuit’s social media footprint registered on a global scale. The hashtag ‘#AbuDhabiGP’ trended number one worldwide on Twitter on Race Day, while recording 302,805 Twitter mentions and 1,808,000,000 Twitter impressions over the Formula 1 weekend (from 21^st Nov – 23^rd November). These numbers are not just new records for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but also for F1 in general. Continuing the theme of online and digital success, the introduction of the YasHUB F1 experience app that allowed race goers to tailor all aspects of their weekend — from ticketing, to the latest F1 news to entertainment options — saw fantastic pick up.