F1 Goes on sale!

After getting to the Marina Mall at 15.30, half an hour ahead of the time the F1 tickets went on sale, we assumed it would be a doddle to get our tickets.

Securing fifth place in our queue was a great relief. We'll be out of here in no time, we thought.

Wrong.

16:10, the tickets went on general sale much to the joy of the crowd gathered behind me.
By 16:45 the first customer in our queue had been served. The hostility of the crowd grew rapidly around me. Many western expats yelled at the courteous staff who just smiled and said "be patient". One woman told another official to "F off". We felt she came that close to being arrested as the staff's smile dropped to somewhat of a forced grin that said that no more of that behaviour would be tolerated.

Meanwhile as we looked round, the local Emiratees waited patiently and quietly knowing that their time would come and that in this country, this is just how things are.

At 18:00, two and a half hours later and after much blame of computer errors and lack of staff training, we got our tickets.

I would reckon people at the back of the queue will still be there now, five hours on.

Either that or they gave up and booked online. Something we'll definitely do next time!