Fast fact ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix
Saturday's Qatar Sprint race saw Max Verstappen wrapp up his third drivers’ championship at the first mathematical opportunity, but today's Qatar Grand Prix still could turn into a thriller given McLaren's eye-catching pace in Losail and the tyre drama that has unfolded over the last two days. F1Technical's Balázs Szabó delivers the key stats and trivia ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Long track - The Lusail track is one of the longest tracks of the calendar. The total length if 5.419km which means that drivers will need to cover 57 laps to complete the race distance of 308.611km.
High-speed - The layout consists of 16 corners with most of them being high-speed turns. This characteristics of the circuit means that tyres experience high lateral loads while longitudinal loads are relatively low with no major braking events during the lap.
Tyre compounds - Due to the high number of high-speed corners, Pirelli has brought three compounds from the harder end of its tyre range: C1 is serving as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft.
Usual limits - There is an offset of 272m between the start and finish line. The pitlane speed limit is set at 80kph which is the standard limit at most of the circuits.
History - The chance for Qatar to first join the Formula 1 calendar in 2021 came about as a consequence of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which led some other flyaway races to be called off. Despite some other ‘new' races held in that period were only ever going to be one-offs, Qatar arrived with a 10-year deal to host F1 – which officially begins with the 2023 race. No race was held in 2022 while the oil-rich state focused on hosting the football World Cup; but Qatar will now join Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia as a regular stop for F1 in the Middle East.
The Briton - When Formula One first visited Qatar, Lewis Hamilton dominated proceedings. The Briton secured pole position and took a sensational win on Sunday.
DRS - There will be only one single DRS zone at today's second Qatar Grand Prix which is located on the main sraight. The detection point is set 40m before Turn 16 while the activation point is 130m after Turn 16.
Modifications- Since F1' last visit in Doha, the circuit facilities have undergone several substantial upgrades which include an entirely new pit and paddock complex, featuring larger garages that can accommodate F1 cars more comfortably. The track has also been resurfaced, replacing the original surface from 2004 that had become
MotoGP - Located on the outskirts of the capital city Doha, the Losail International Circuit was designed primarily for motorcycle racing and was opened in 2004 for MotoGP.
The character of the Lusail circuit owes much to its intended design for motorcycle racing, with a number of corners following each other in quick succession. Straights are few and far between, although the pit straight is over a kilometre in length, making it the most obvious overtaking opportunity. Through the 16 varied turns that make up the rest of the lap, the tyres are always working, making this one of the most demanding circuits of the season.
