David Coulthard has hailed the new Yas Marina circuit as an "11 out of 10" venue ahead of Formula One venturing into new territory this weekend.
Coulthard was given a sneak preview of the track earlier this month as he, along with Martin Brundle and Bruno Senna, shepherded around an exclusive group of the sport's media in two-seater F1 cars.
With its unique pit-lane tunnel exit, a 500-seater, five-star hotel that straddles the track and the longest straight in F1 at 1.2km, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix promises to be something special.
The circuit can also boast that every one of the 50,000 spectators will be seated under a covered grandstand, and the floodlighting - given it is the sport's first day-to-night race - will be superior than that used in Singapore for the night event.
The hotel itself is spectacular as it is overlaid with a sweeping shell comprising 5,800 LCD panels that glow a variety of colours, and can even display messages.
As Coulthard remarked, it will be "visually impressive", but the acid test for any new circuit is whether it will appeal to the drivers and provide enough on-track excitement.
"I think they will like it," said Coulthard, a 13-time grand prix winner.
"It does seem to flow and that is what they will look for.
"It's a step change in the philosophy design of race tracks, and that's because of the widespread use of this new barrier.
"It looks like it's reduced the run-off area by a third, which will lead to more incidents, and is part of the game of Formula One.
"You go around Monaco where you've no run off, you make a mistake and you are out of the race.
"But at some of the more modern tracks the guys keep pushing until they go off the circuit, and that's them finding the limit.
"But if you don't have that luxury, it really sorts out the men from the boys, so it will really surprise a lot of the guys when they get here, just how tight it is in places."
What every race fan naturally wants to see is overtaking, and there are places on this circuit, although some drivers may be deterred given the sand and dust off line.
"I don't think there will particularly be more overtaking at this track than at others because you've tight, twisty corners where there is only one line, and that's what they'll be taking," added Coulthard.
"The 1.2k straight might create an overtaking zone, whilst the hairpin is a really nice corner, but it's probably too close to the chicane to really allow for overtaking.
"I think all the stuff around the hotel is just 'follow me' as it is so tight and twisty.
"It also seems to be very sandy and what that does is two things: it makes the driver pay the price if he goes a bit off line, which is good because it favours ability.
"But it also makes people not want to take the risk in overtaking. Sand on your tyre takes a good lap to be cleared out.
"That will potentially deter people overtaking. You probably know you will not have a go from a distance."
Coulthard's greatest concern is the pit exit, even though it has passed the FIA safety standards.
"You can look at it and say it is challenging, but the bottom line is that it is actually a bit silly," added Coulthard.
"It is the width of a car and it is a 90-degree left at the bottom of a tunnel after a blind hill.
"Will we know it's silly? No, because there won't be a camera there? Could there be an incident? Yes. Will there be? Probably not.
"It is one of those things that if you practice it all day you could probably pick up half a second.
"But in the overall scheme of things is that half a second going to make a difference between winning or losing the grand prix?
"If it was really tight of course it could, but probably not. So I would err on the side of caution."
Overall, though, the Scot is satisfied and would love to be racing on such a circuit.
"I'd give it 11 out of 10," assessed Coulthard.
"There are a lot of challenges on this track, and I would say it is definitely more challenging than any of the more recent tracks like Turkey, Bahrain and Shanghai."
