What it took to deliver Abu Dhabi’s championship-deciding F1 finale

The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was everything a Formula One finale promises to be: a season-defining showdown, a packed Yas Marina Circuit, and a championship fight that went all the way, with Lando Norris lifting his first Formula One world title. But beneath the roaring grandstands and the on-track drama lay a quieter, unseen race. One that begins long before the formation lap, and without which the championship weekend could not exist: the global logistics operation that delivers Formula One to Abu Dhabi.

For fans, the final race marks the culmination of a year’s worth of speed, skill and strategy. For logistics crews, it marks the completion of a high-pressure, fast-moving supply chain that spans continents and operates with unforgiving precision. Every screw, sensor, wing assembly, pitwall gantry, garage module and broadcast camera must travel thousands of kilometres in advance of the finale. And when equipment is worth millions and built with microscopic tolerances, the margin for error is nonexistent.

During the season, Abu Dhabi is strategically positioned as one of Formula One’s flyaway races. But as the final event, it also becomes a logistical endpoint, a place where the entire championship converges before teams begin their winter hibernation and retooling for the next season. This year, with the title still undecided until the final laps, Yas Marina wasn’t just hosting a race. It was hosting the most consequential and tightly choreographed logistics operation of the season.

Broadcasting the spectacle, in real time and without failure
One of the most intricate aspects of Formula One’s logistics machine is broadcast technology. The moment a car moves, a live image must be delivered to audiences worldwide within milliseconds. That responsibility falls on Formula One’s Operations team, and during a recent conversation, Formula One Operations Manager – Sporting, Christian Pollhammer, detailed the immense complexity behind transporting this technology from venue to venue.

“We have on track over 25 fixed camera positions plus,” he explained. “That is all air freight.” These systems are too valuable and too specialised to risk typical container handling. “We have our own secure containers. We can’t afford to lose the container,” he said, highlighting the risk of damage. Broadcast cameras used in Formula One are not replaceable off the shelf. “If something breaks, you can’t just go out and buy it. It’s all unique.”

To protect this equipment, Formula One uses custom-shaped aviation containers built specifically to integrate into ULD (Unit Load Device) standards. Inside them, every component is fitted into buffer-lined racks, cushioned frames and shock-absorbing mounts. “They’re full of racking, buffers and cushion, really state-of-the-art transport equipment,” Pollhammer noted. Over the years, the system has evolved from simple packing crates into a full aircraft’s worth of specialised technological freight.

The complexity of the broadcasting system alone is staggering, nearly a full cargo plane for technology, while two additional flights transport pre-assembled structural components. Only after those structures land can the broadcast team assemble the operational hub that powers the global feed.

A shift toward multimodal sustainability
But the logistics of Formula One are not static. They are entering a new phase, one shaped by sustainability targets, cost structures and operational efficiency. According to Paul Fowler, Vice President Motorsports Global, DHL, the next few years will redefine how Formula One moves.

Fowler explained: “There’s a huge evolution going on now when we control more sustainability across land and sea freight operations; there will be a movement to reduce air transport into sea and road logistic for F1’s TV production structure. This will be one of the biggest changes to F1's own infrastructure transport in the next few years”.

This means the logistics model that powered the 2025 finale may look very different by the end of the decade. Air freight will remain essential for fragile equipment like broadcast tech and systems, but heavier structures, garage modules, and non-critical components are expected to shift increasingly toward sea freight—reducing emissions and extending the planning horizon.

Teams: moving a travelling factory

Each Formula One team brings around 40–50 tonnes of equipment to every flyaway race. This includes their two race cars, spare chassis parts, pitstop gear, IT servers, hospitality structures, and data systems. For the season finale, everything is packed with extra caution because the equipment does not leave Abu Dhabi for the next event; instead, it returns to European factories for disassembly, upgrades or preservation work.

Given the championship implications, redundancy is built in. Every team sends multiple sets of critical systems: spare wiring looms, control electronics, sensors, pit-wall equipment and redundant data servers. And because the Abu Dhabi finale typically follows a rapid sequence of late-season races, turnaround times are short, making precision planning essential.

The unseen race behind the championship
While Norris lifted the trophy under Yas Marina’s bright lights, the logistics victory had been unfolding for weeks. From CEVA Logistics moving Ferrari’s high-value race freight across the season, to DHL transporting Formula One’s broadcast and operational systems, to the broadcast team landing in Yas Marina days before the paddock opened, to last-minute emergency shipments routed through Europe, every move was measured, rehearsed and controlled.

Pollhammer summed it up simply: Formula One logistics is a system honed by decades of trial and error. “Every decision is about safety. After years of trial and error we know what works, and we’ve refined the way we move equipment to the highest degree. But now we’re looking at shifting into a multimodal system.”

The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix may be remembered for its champion. But for the people who move Formula One, it marks the successful closing chapter of a global, season-long relay, one where precision matters just as much as pace.