For those of us who were staying in Dubai we had a rather leisurely start to the day with our circuit transfers leaving at about 10:30am, heading straight to the circuit which took about 45 minutes. With the championship already wrapped up, this qualifying day was all to play for. Unsurprisingly Hamilton took pole position, and with a new track record set, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas. In 3rd and 4th place were Vettel and Raikkonen and 5th was Riccardo. Some customers decided to stay behind to watch Sam Smith perform after an exciting day of qualifying action.

On race day our coaches made their departure for Abu Dhabi just after 11:00am, ready for the action. The weather was noticeably warmer at the circuit, so sun cream and sunhats were adorned immediately. As the atmosphere of the race began to build, and the spectacle of the fly over and the national anthem had taken place, the race began! The most dramatic moment of the entire race happened within the 1st lap when Grosjean and Hulkenburg were hustling for position. With Hulkenburg misjudging Grosjean’s location he was then sent sprawling towards the barriers, a gasps was sent ricocheting throughout the circuit as we waited to see if everything was ok! Luckily Hulkenburg was fine and the safety car was sent out while the quick clean-up operation began. Once the safety car was released and the real race began, Verstappen was on the pursuit to climb up the rankings over taking on turn 7 twice in as many laps.