Into The Unknown…
For the final race of the triple header, F1 is in Qatar for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, which was recently added to the 2021 calendar following the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix.
After a dramatic weekend in Brazil, Verstappen hangs on to his championship lead despite Hamilton winning the main race. He now leads by only 14 points. A 1-3 finish for Mercedes extended their constructors championship lead from Red Bull back out to 11 points compared to last week's single point. This week's race could be pivotal for both the drivers’ championship and the constructors’.
McLaren are now at a 31.5 point deficit to Ferrari in the team standings after a Lap 1 incident involving Lando Norris, putting him at the back and forcing him to fight through the back markers for most of the race, and a retirement from Ricciardo due to a power unit failure. The Mercedes engine in his car had only been put in 3 races prior. McLaren have scored a total of 22 points from the last 4 races, compared to Ferrari’s 70. If McLaren don’t get their act together this weekend, Ferrari will begin to run away with their lead and make it very difficult for the papaya team to get third place in the championship.
Earlier this week, Alfa Romeo announced that Antonio Giovinazzi would be leaving the team after Abu Dhabi, being replaced with Alpine Academy driver, Guanyu Zhou in 2022. Giovinazzi was unable to secure a seat in F1 next year. At this stage it has not been announced whether or not he will keep his role as Ferrari’s reserve driver or if that spot will be given to an FDA member, such as Robert Shwartzman, who has had a phenomenal year in F2. Giovinazzi will be looking to make his last three races in F1, for now, his best yet.
Hopefully the drivers have had plenty of time in the simulators to get to know the circuit, though some drivers have admitted to focusing more on the first two races of this triple header while back in the factory.
The Finer Details…
Though this year will be the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in Qatar - and the first F1 race at Losail International Circuit – the circuit has hosted many other motorsports. MotoGP have visited this track every year since it opened in 2004, with the exception of 2020. Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner are tied for most MotoGP wins in Qatar, both with four. The most recent Qatar MotoGP winner was the 2021 champion, Fabio Quartararo.
Other series that Losail International Circuit have hosted are Superbike World Championship (2005-2009, 2014-2019), World Touring Car Championship (2015-2017), Motorcross World Championship (2013-2017), Speedcar series (2009), and GP2 Asia (2009).
Sergio Perez will be at an advantage this weekend as he is the only current driver on the grid who has competed at Losail International Circuit before. Perez won the second race of the weekend when GP2 Asia was in Qatar, as that was the series he was competing in at the time. The other driver who won that weekend was Nico Hulkenberg.
Losail International Circuit is a 5.38km track located in the town of Losail, north of the nation's capital, Doha. The track opened in 2004 after being built in a record time of less than a year, and the layout has remained the same since. The drivers will have to complete 57 laps to reach the total race distance of 306.66km. The circuit has 16 corners, 10 to the right and 6 to the left. There will be only one DRS zone this weekend, and it is along the 1.068km start/finish straight. The only other tracks on this year's calendar to have only one DRS zone are Emilia Romagna (Imola) and Monaco.
The track features long straights and corners, many of which the drivers will barely have to brake through. This type of track has benefits for both Mercedes and Honda powered cars. This season, we’ve seen how well the Mercedes straight line speed has been, so all of these long straights will definitely be advantageous for them, but Red Bull have had the upper hand through sectors that involve more turns, so there are certainly sections of this track that should suit them. We only have to look back to last week's race for a good example of this. Mercedes dominated sectors 1 and 3 - in terms of time - which were mostly straight, while Red Bull were consistently setting the faster time in Sector 2, which had 8 out of the 15 turns within it.
The driver who gets pole position this weekend will start the race on the left side of the grid, which may not put them in the best position when it comes to turning the first corner. The track hasn’t been resurfaced since it’s opening in 2004, so the combination of high grip and high speed corners will cause the tyres to degrade fast. Simulations have predicted that race lap times should be about 1 minute and 28 seconds, and quali lap times should be 6 seconds faster than that.
As this is a circuit mostly designed for bikes, there may not be many opportunities for overtaking in a four wheel vehicle. Turns 1 and 6 are the slowest corners, and are therefore the most likely spots for overtaking. DRS will certainly assist with overtaking along the main straight as well.
Quick Facts
The circuit is surrounded by artificial grass to stop the desert sand from reaching the track, similar to Bahrain.
Permanent outdoor lighting was not added to the circuit until 2007. At the time, the addition of these lights was the largest permanent outdoor venue lighting project in the world. This record is now held by Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, where F1 will be in December.
The venue can seat only 8000 people in its single grandstand.
When To Watch
(FRIDAY) F1 teams will have very little data to rely on, away from their simulations, so Free Practice will be vital. 13:30 - 14:30 local time (10:30 - 11:30 BST).
(FRIDAY) FP2 is the next session, at 17:00 - 18:00 local time (14:00 - 15:00 BST).
(SATURDAY) The final Free Practice session begins at 14:00 - 15:00 local time (11:00 - 12:00 BST).
(SATURDAY) We will see who comes out on top at 17:00 - 18:00 local time (14:00 - 15:00 BST).
(SUNDAY) The championship battle returns to the track at 17:00 local time (14:00 BST).
(All times collected and calculated from the official Formula 1 website)
(Information for this post uses previous race data collected from the internet and official sources. No copyright intended)
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