Bernie Ecclestone wandered around the cathedral of motorsport, built on a desert island near the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and said: “I never thought it would be finished like this.”

And the Formula One commercial rights-holder was not the only one to stand awestruck by the sheer scale and ambition of the world’s newest and most expensive racetrack, which cost about £250 million and will stage the last race of the Formula One season on Sunday.

The place makes all others look pretenders with its blitzkrieg approach to fulfilling Ecclestone’s dreams: an immaculate new track, state-of-the-art floodlighting, a marina full of huge yachts, purpose-built hotels within a stone’s throw of the paddock, some world-class architecture and no mess.

“I said to them when I last visited a few months ago, ‘I hope we are not going to be racing in a building site,’ and we’re not,” said the 79-year-old billionaire, wearing a slipper on one foot because of gout, and a leather boot on the other, as Fabiana Flosi, his new 30-year-old Brazilian girlfriend, hovered nearby in the desert heat.

“What they’ve done is unbelievable. It was in April 2006 that I saw and spoke to the crown prince . . . during dinner we came up with the idea that maybe we should have a race here, and it’s magic what they’ve done.”

Ecclestone believes that no country is ever likely to beat what the powers that be in Abu Dhabi have already achieved with the Yas Marina Circuit. “They’re not going to — I’d be happy if somebody does the same,” he said.

We will see on Sunday if this latest glittering track can produce a good race but it will take several years to determine whether it is capable of generating a local tradition of motorsport — the omens on that score are not good, taking into account the deserted stands at places such as Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.

Indeed when you come to a place such as Yas Island you can see what Silverstone is up against in its battle to save and host the British Grand Prix. The Abu Dhabi track is part of a development costing more than £30 billion and it is all state money; Silverstone made a profit last year of £662,000 and there is no state money in sight. The stands may be empty here in years to come and they will always be full at the Northamptonshire track, but it is the money that circuits can pay for the right to host races that counts as far as Ecclestone is concerned.

Whether the intervention of Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, will make a difference remains to be seen. Mandelson revealed yesterday that he had phoned Ecclestone. “I stressed to him the importance of Formula One and the British Grand Prix to the UK,” Mandelson said.

“This is a very British institution and every effort must be made to keep the race in the UK. Losing it would be a body blow to UK sport, the teams, and the fans. Bernie reassured me he was doing everything possible to maintain the British Grand Prix in the UK.”

In the paddock, the world champion-elect, Jenson Button, was enjoying life after securing the title two weeks ago in Brazil. The Englishman was not ruling out a move from Brawn GP to McLaren Mercedes to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton next year, but that still seems unlikely.

Button was happy to lend his support to Silverstone as the circuit continues its negotiations with Ecclestone in the wake of the collapse of Donington Park’s bid to stage the race from next year.

“I think Lewis and myself would both do as much as we can to make sure there is a British Grand Prix,” said Button. “You saw the sell-out crowd we had at Silverstone this year. The atmosphere was electric and there was not a British driver anywhere near the podium in the race. So it would be devastating if we didn’t have a British Grand Prix.”

The regular FIA-organised pre-race Thursday press conference was enlivened by a spat between Jarno Trulli, of Toyota, and Adrian Sutil, the Force India driver, who are still at each other’s throats after a first-lap crash in Brazil that put them both out. Trulli said that he had every reason to be “extremely furious”. Sutil, sitting next to him, accused the Italian of “freaking out”.