Is the Yas Marina F1 track a Street Circuit?

Yas Marina is the brainchild of a German engineer, racing driver, and circuit designer Hermann Tilke. Yas Island is an artificial island, and the circuit is a major attraction.

Managed and maintained by the Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, the Yas Marina Circuit first broke ground in May 2007. Two years later, in 2009, people would get the first glimpse of the magnificent battleground.

The 7-time World Champion bills Yas as one of his favorite circuits and has always found it thrilling to step onto the pitch here. In 2009 Lewis Hamilton stated, “It’s like entering Wembley.”

Since the course is on an island, far away from the central city, it is not much of a street circuit. Most of the island will eventually turn into resorts and entertainment zones.

Key points to note about Yas Marina

However, rather than strictly being a proper road circuit, it has built-in elements of ‘street’ throughout the track. It is a ‘hybrid’ of sorts. The design and construction cost $1.3 billion. It has a capacity of 60,000 and Yas Marina is also among the Top-10 longest circuits, stretching almost 5.5 kilometers.

Street circuits today are compact, with walls lined up very close to the track. This feature makes it challenging to bend around the corners, and the math becomes very crucial.

Yas Marina has plenty of room for overtaking, yet parts of the track are designed for high precision cornering, a balanced outcome.

Races at Yas have always been nail-biting, and the soothing island environment makes it a party you cannot miss. Street like features of the track are not very close to actual street circuits when it comes to the surface quality.

Usually, in a street circuit, the public roads used for the track are also used for daily traffic. Hence, the compromised quality of construction leads to fast degradation of the track. Subsequently, making it a bumpier ride for the drivers.

Visibility is a critical issue in street circuits, and Yas, being a hybrid, offers a mixed palette. It is easier to find a rhythm, and there are proper braking zones.

Altogether, the Yas Marina Circuit offers fans and drivers an irresistible edge of the seat viewing experience along with a photogenic panorama. It has never let down its audience since its inception in the 2009 Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

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