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PRIXVIEW – Qatar Grand Prix

Round twenty-three and the penultimate Grand Prix and final Sprint weekend of the season brings F1 to Lusail Qatar’s second city. Lusail joined the calendar properly last season and became the third full-night race along with Singapore, Jeddah and Las Vegas having been brought in in 2021 as a replacement for Melbourne and signed a long-term deal.

Built for MotoGP at the same time as neighbouring Bahrain, with one of its long straights and twisty in-field section in sector two, which provides opportunities for overtaking. It is still however a new circuit for F1 and it has been slightly lengthen for this year with a new pit paddock complex, as well as increased capacity.

MotoGP made its debut here in the same season F1 came to the region back in 2004, but while it had been used for GP2 and testing before joining the calendar as a stand-in race in 2021 the teams enjoyed the return to Lusail to race for th first time. Last year the race became a full night race having been a twilight race in 2021

The circuit is designed mainly for motorbikes it was brought in after years of trying to get an F1 race during the COVID-19 pandemic replacing Melbourne in 2021, as well as signing a ten-year deal starting in 2023 to host the race. This makes it fast and flowing with it mixed with hard braking zones creates opportunities for overtaking, and has given plenty of action in both the sprint and the two Grands Prix here.

Similar to neighbouring Sakhir, Bahrain a fast-flowing circuit with a mixture of straights and a twister outfield section. Made up of a mixture of high and medium-speed corners which last time provided for some overtaking, but this was under the previous regulations, which will likely increase in the midfield given how tight it has been this season.

Lusail is still a relevantly unknown circuit, we have only had one grand prix here at this time of year and the fact we had the sprint format last year and again this year, the last traditional format was under the previous regulations. Drivers seemed happy with Lusail, with some comparing it to a go-kart track. 2021 saw close racing in the midfield

But we know this circuit could be unpredictable on tyres as last year there were issues which dominated the weekend however 2021 several teams ran one-stop strategies we know that the type of track surface in this region is quite hard-wearing because of the heat. The nature of this circuit suggests there could be a few issues with overheating. Also, the night sessions as the track cooldown you see rapid track evolution, and recent qualifying’s has been about hundredths of a second.

The races debut in 2021 formed part of a heated and controversial final triple header in the Middle East, as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went head to head for the championship. Hamilton took pole by nearly half a second, the largest margin of the season. The Mercedes driver looked in total control topping all three parts of qualifying.

Hamilton then went on to dominate the race from the front while Verstappen’s charge from seventh following a grid penalty stalled when he reached third. Fernando Alonso had a brilliant race retaining third he had inherited from Verstappen, to score his first podium since Budapest in 2014 in part to a VSC and worn tyres halting Sergio Perez’s attack from fourth.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast fact

• After F1 raced in Qatar for the first time in 2021, the sport moved to Saudi Arabia for the first race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. It was the first time that there were two successive races at new venues since the 1970 German and Austrian Grands Prix.
• Qatar gets only nine days’ worth of rain in a year, but it managed to cause havoc with the 2009 MotoGP race at Lusail Circuit. Poor weather conditions saw the race delayed by one day, taking place on a Monday!
• McLaren recorded their 500th podium finish over the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Ferrari was the only team to achieve the feat before McLaren did so.
• For a while, Lusail Circuit was the largest-lit sporting venue in the world. Its title was taken by Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi when it opened in 2009.
• Max Verstappen’s title win in 2023 saw Qatar become the 22nd different country in which the Drivers’ Championship had been decided.

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

GP qualifying saw Max Verstappen beat George Russell to pole as he set about claiming his third championship after many drivers was caught out and ran wide at Turns Four and Five on his second run. When it came to Q3, it was ultimately Verstappen’s opening ‘banker’ lap that proved more than enough to seal his tenth pole position of the season. An error on his second attempt proved irrelevant

Mercedes looks to be Red Bull’s closest challenger with Russell out-qualifying teammate Lewis Hamilton by nearly a tenth. however, Both McLaren’s had spilt the Mercedes on track, but on their final attempts both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had their final laps deleted for track limits.

McLaren’s pace continued in sprint qualifying, with Piastri taking his first pole as he beat Norris by nine-tenths after the Englishman aborted his final attempt in SQ3. Verstappen was third a tenth behind Norris, but the Red Bull driver is in pole position to win his third championship. While teammate Sergio Perez start the sprint down in eighth, after being nine-tenths off Piastri. If they were to finish how they start that would allow Verstappen to seal his third title.

While Piastri took his maiden win in any format, Verstappen took his third title after his only rival Perez crashed out in a three-car collision at the halfway stage, in a frantic sprint race in Lusail. Piastri was the first driver to take his maiden pole and maiden victory consecutively for McLaren was Lewis Hamilton in his first season in Montreal in 2007.

Verstappen finished six seconds ahead of Norris as McLaren looks to continue its recovery from its difficult start to being one of Red Bull’s closest challengers in the second half of the season. Norris passed George Russell late on to take third in what was another dramatic and frantic sprint.

Verstappen won his fourteenth Grand Prix of the season beating Piastri by five seconds, the Dutchman looked to control the race after the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collided at the start fighting for second. Despite the unprecedented tyre regulations – brought in for the race amid safety concerns, it looked to be another controlled drive.

Both Mercedes collided on the opening lap, that took them out of a potential fight with the McLarens and Verstappen. Not helped by the mandated tyre stints and the collision allowed Russell to overcut throughout the race, following his early precautionary stop. The seven-time champion accepted he didn’t give Russell enough space.

What to watch for?

Last weekend Max Verstappen sealed his fourth championship but Lusail is a very different night desert race to Vegas because it will be a lot warmer. This will not be as bad as last year because of the cooler winter more like European early summer at this circuit, I think it’s a great race circuit where we have seen plenty of overtaking and despite taking the drivers the constructors is still to play for between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

Lusail is another high-speed and downforce circuit which I believe favours McLaren I think it’s a very important weekend for them and Norris, though the driver’s championship has gone they remain the favourites for the constructors. Norris needs to bounce back now he may have lost the championship, but he needs to use these final two weekends to make a statement for 2025, and iron out things to get him into the best position for next year.

The qualifying sessions could be interesting as demonstrated last weekend in Vegas under the lights the circuit just gets faster and faster further into the evening we get, and given how close it has been recently the last lap really could matter. It’s hard to predict given how mixed up it has been during the second half of the year.

Since the start of the final six races we have seen some unpredictable races and this is a sprint weekend added with the fact the sprint takes place in daylight whereas sprint qualifying, GP qualifying and the Grand Prix are night sessions. Do teams thesacrifice the sprint and they will have no reprehensive practice session for the weekend which could be difficult for all the teams in terms of getting the right setup.

Red Bull and Ferrari are in a good place I feel to fight for second in the constructors, though McLaren mathematically are able to be caught I think given the fact Sergio Perez has struggled this season I think they will stay third given they way both McLaren and Ferrari’s drivers have been performing. But it has been hard to read, Mercedes had a strong weekend in Vegas which seemed to be unexpected by them.

There still could be a few more twists and turns in the final two races, look at Alpine after the last two races after a difficult season jumping from ninth to sixth in the constructors. We normally see great races after a championship has been decided and Lusail I believe is a good circuit for this given what we have seen in the last two weekends here.

2023 vs 2021 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres