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Dropping clear plastic goggles with stringy red straps into a bin, they pause, uncertain on solid ground, and gently bump into each other as they walk out of the gate and back into the short queue to take a second ride.
Two minutes later, I am uncomfortably strapped in alongside them in stiff metal and plastic as we prepare to experience the Formula Rossa rollercoaster at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. The front of the coaster, with the graceful nose, vents and wheels of a Formula One car, rolls up to the ‘starting line’ beneath a row of signal lights.
From the back, I strain my neck to watch the countdown through my mandatory goggles. The reds light up one by one – the green follows. There is a silent moment of terror, and then the thing launches.
It accelerates too fast to think. Before my brain even realises what is happening, I am already 200m away. Control over my existence has been absolutely wrenched out of my hands – and it feels great.
The Formula Rossa is the fastest rollercoaster in the world, reaching 100km/h (62mph) in two seconds and accelerating to a top speed of 240km/h in under five. As I am launched, grimacing, from the straight on to a steep slope and around serpentine bends inspired by the famous Monza racetrack in Italy, I experience 4.8g – enough force apparently to whip F1 driver Fernando Alonso’s wallet from his pocket when he rode alongside Felipe Massa in a promotional video for the park.
The ride has a hydraulic launch system similar to those used to propel fighter jets from aircraft carriers. A ‘catch car’ is connected to a hydraulic pulley with a metal cable. The coaster latches on to the catch car, and the pulley spins at an astounding rate to wrench it forwards before it detaches. The result is an incredibly clean-feeling acceleration, with none of the jolting gear changes you might feel in a road vehicle.
After the ride ends and I clamber trembling from my seat, I do the only reasonable thing – go around and get on again. Could I do it a third time? The dopamine and adrenalin coursing through my body tell me yes, but time constraints unfortunately tell me no – Ferrari World is huge and I still have so much to explore.
A giant red UFO-like, three-pronged aluminium roof structure covers 86,000m² of the park, which opened in November 2010. There are cars everywhere, mostly in the primary yet distinctive rosso corsa red. F1 cars perch jauntily on stands or cling to walls, while the Galleria room features rare models such as an FXX K, a development of the LaFerrari, with total power of 1,036hp. Only 40 of the FXX K cars were made.
Housed on Yas Island, which was built in the sea just 12 years ago, the attraction strives to simulate a feeling of authentic culture. The park draws extensively on Ferrari’s heritage, and there are restaurants, piazzas and virtual tours of the company’s historic Maranello factory.
Mocked-up high streets feature “traditional” Italian waffle shops, while the Cinema Maranello tells the story of how Enzo Ferrari founded the company in 1939 after initially joining Alfa Romeo as a racing driver in 1920.
There are go-kart tracks, “4D experiences” and simulators. If you book in advance, you can take real cars for a ride. You can even try your hand, in a separate experience, at the frantic F1 pit-stop tyre change.
There are other rollercoasters in the park, too – but there is only one Formula Rossa.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.