Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Qatar Grand Prix

Round twenty takes F1 to Lusail fourteen miles north of the Qatari capital Doha for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix. Built at the same time as circuits like Sakhir and Shanghai, the circuit is best known for hosting MotoGP and this weekend mark’s a one-off race in Losail before a street circuit is built-in Doha for 2023.

Losail was part of the wave of circuits built in the early 2000’s the 3.3mi circuit is however an unknown to many of the drivers as its twisty and the current generation of cars tend not to follow well. However, it has one of the longest straights of the season with the circuit being fast and flowing, a mixture of straights and flowing corners.

There will only be one DRS zone along the 1km long main straight with the cars predicted to reach 220kph (170mph) before the tight first corner and the final corner is expected to be key in lining up moves for turn one. One of the concerns will be dirty air which means following could be difficult.

The outright top speed in qualifying is expected to be 237kph (187mph).

This weekend is a trip into the unknown many of the drivers have never raced in Doha despite it being part of the defunct GP2 Asia Series, one of the feeder series that has merged into F2. On paper, Lusail nature should be able to create opportunities for overtaking but the question will be how close the cars can follow through the corners.

Its hard to say what Lusail will be like, when we went to Mugello last year another MotoGP circuit it was a little bit easier as teams had old data from testing back in 2012. But we know that anything can happen this season, and the added factor of a twilight race means as always teams only have an hour of reprehensive practice on Friday Evening.

The venue has been used for unofficial pre-season testing by some F1 teams, including Williams, who had set up a development centre here years ago. Losail archives a long-held ambition as does the Qatari government of hosting F1, it had been linked to being a race for some years. However, Bahrain had always vetoed the race, whether that is true or not no one is sure whether Bahrain had a veto.

Normally when we head to new circuits, as we will see in Jeddah as well, teams will do a lot more running in the three practice sessions. I think given the races we have seen this season, and at the replacement circuits since the start of the pandemic have been a little bit unpredictable.

On paper, I think this will be a circuit that will favour those who perform better at the high downforce tracks. Doha is going to be a challenge thought we are in the cooler season, air temperate is around thirty degrees similar to what we get in the European season, risk of rain in the desert is low.

This weekend marks the final race of a triple-header across three continents and with Doha being a new circuit anything can happen. We know that we are at the point in    the season where reliability and any mistakes can be costly, and that’s something we need to bear in mind as well as penalties we get towards the end of the season.

Facts and figures

Fast facts

• Until the completion of Yas Marina, the lighting of the Losail Circuit by Musco Lighting was the largest permanent venue sports lighting project in the world. Like F1, Moto GP held its first night race in 2008.
• Qatar’s flag is white and maroon with a serrated vertical divide. The nine-pointed serrated edge signifies Qatar as the ninth member of the “reconciled emirates” following the Qatari-British treaty of 1916.
• Qatar has the world’s most urbanised population with 99.2% of Qataris living in a city.
• Qatar gained independence from the United Kingdom on September 3rd, 1971, and has 2.2 million inhabitants.
• Qatar has been the first Middle Eastern country to host a number of largescale sporting events. These include: MotoGP, the Asian Games, IAAF and IPC World Championships in Athletics and next year’s FIFA World Cup
• The 2009 Moto GP race had to be postponed because of rain. On average there are 8.8 days of rain each year and a total of 16.1 millilitres of rainfall.

Event timetable

What to watch for?

Lusail is going to be a big unknown as I can’t find any F1 running at Losail, but this looks like a fast and flowing track, where medium and high-speed corners predominate. Many are predicting that turn one is going to be the best opportunity to overtake.

If we assume it’s somewhere nearer Budapest or Zandvoort overtaking opportunities maybe there, but it might be difficult. We know that there will be busier Friday practice sessions as this is a new race teams will be looking to gather as much data as possible.

You need to be prepared as we don’t know how the track will evolve over the weekend, but you need to think the track surface is similar to Sakhir and Yas Marina.  The track surface according to some Moto GP riders will be bumpy for the drivers, but we didn’t see that come true in Austin.

This is a twilight race, meaning that in FP1 and FP3 it will be warmer, and in Bahrain back in March Mercedes had the upper hand in the evening and Red Bull in the afternoon session. It could be for all the battles between the teams look different in the daylight sessions, but Mercedes need to start coming back to Red Bull if this championship fight is going to continue.

Sergio Perez won in GP2 in 2009, the only race winner in Lusail, but I think that’s so long ago that might be helpful with learning the track. Normally these new circuits we see lots more running in FP1, remember the drivers don’t get extra running in practice because of it being a new circuit.

Last weekends race at Interlagos was I think an important one for Lewis Hamilton, a victory from last after traditional qualifying and tenth following the sprint shows I think Mercedes aren’t going to give up without a fight. On paper, I believe this is a Mercedes circuit, as it’s twisty and a few long straights, similar in some ways in the middle sector to that of Interlagos.

Ferrari I think are beginning to get momentum in their fight with McLaren in the constructor’s championship, with three races to go. You need to think that its as open as the fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, with three new circuits coming up with Abu Dhabi being revised you need to think there is a long way to go.

The other battle in the constructors is between Alpine and Alpha Tauri tied on points, I think its going to be likely unless there are dramatic twists in Doha or Jeddah that all these championship battles will go to the last day of the season

Tyres