Today's Edition
Khaled Al Khawaldeh (Abu Dhabi)
British rock sensation, Muse, has been announced as the first act for the highly anticipated entertainment lineup at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix set to be held in early December this year.
The announcement came at an illustrious promotional event held at the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening that was attended by F1 legends and executives as well as business leaders from around the UAE.
Saif Al Noaimi, the CEO of Ethara, the event’s organiser and promoter, said the last Grand Prix had attracted over 100k visitors, 63% of which were overseas tourists. He was joined on a panel with the CFO of Etihad Airways, Raffael Quintas, who said the airline expected a 30-40% increase in numbers for this year’s event.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is often touted as the highlight of the yearly entertainment line-up in the capital, with tourists flocking to the city for the last race of the F1 season, often accompanied by world renown acts.
Certainly, the importance of the event was not lost on F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali, who joined the event from London via video call.
“I want to thank the rulers of Abu Dhabi for believing in Formula 1… I can really feel this year that everyone is looking forward to being there,” he told the crowd.
“At the end of the day, Abu Dhabi is the last race, and everyone looks forward to being there.”
The event was also attended by Emirati F1 Academy members, Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi, as well as previous Alpine F1 Team principal, Otmar Szafnauer and former F1 driver turned pundit, David Coulthard.
