Williams’ George Russell and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during a press conference yesterday.
Qatar’s first ever Formula One race at the Losail International Circuit couldn’t have come at a better time in this year’s thrilling season. With three rounds to go in the title race, the Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix 2021 on Sunday will be crucial in campaigns of top contenders – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
The eventful Sao Paulo Grand Prix last weekend saw Hamilton – bidding for his record-breaking eighth drivers’ championship title – slashing Verstappen’s lead to 14 from 21 points after a dramatic victory.
The Red Bull star is seeking his maiden championship crown. Both the drivers are looking for a win but the uncharted waters of the 5.38-kilometre Losail International Circuit add more suspense to the upcoming race.
None of the drivers on the current grid have the experience of racing at the track deemed “pretty fast” – except for Ver-stappen team-mate Sergio Perez and Haas driver Nikita Mazepin, who raced at the MRF Challenge.
The venue has been hosting the season-opening MotoGP races since 2004. The drivers will only have a first-hand experience of the circuit today in the two practice sessions after spending time on simulators.
A high downforce set-up and a series of quick sweeping corners will make it challenging and tough physically for the drivers. The rest of the lap is fast, flowing and dominated by medium and high-speed corners, making tyre degra-dation a key factor.
“I think it’s going to be a dif-ferent track. Probably straight line speed is not so relevant over there, so hopefully we can be a lot more competitive,” Perez told a virtual press conference yesterday. “I think it’s a very high downforce track, very fast. And hopefully the main straight is not too long,” he added. The Mexican claimed the GP2 Asia title in 2009 at the Losail International Circuit but he said his past experience will not matter much.
“I don’t really remember when I drove there, it was a long time ago. So I don’t think there is much of an advantage for me,” the Mexican added, while admitting he had little memory of his victory here in 2009.Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen was excited to race at the unknown territory.
“New tracks are always good [to race]. I have seen it on TV and I am looking forward to a good race,” he said yesterday.
McLaren’s Lando Norris said it was a ‘fun track’ while acknowledging the physical toll it would take on the drivers. “It’s a pretty fast track. Not many big braking zones or anything, so it’s probably going to be quite a physical one. I don’t know how the racing or anything is going to be, I’ve got no idea just yet. But quite a fun track from what it looks like,” said the Brit.
The teams would know more about the track after today’s practice sessions but track is said to be favourable for Mercedes over the Red Bull, due to their faster straight-line speed.
Fernando Alonso, mean-while, was curious to see the F1 race at the track – home to many MotoGP races.
“I was following this track in MotoGP,” said the Alpine driver.
“It’s the first race of the year so I always watch it and play on the video games here with the MotoGP so I always wonder how a Formula 1 car will perform here. I will have the answer this weekend! It looks fast, it looks nice to drive so I think it’s going to be a very good weekend and happy to be here for the first time and the first of many years,” he added.
Meanwhile, Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation’s exec-utive director Amro Al-Hamad in an interview said the lack of track data and the flowing layout would create an exciting on-track spectacle.
“Nobody has any data here, nobody drove here before, so that is going to add a lot,” Al Hamad told Autosport.
“Every single minute in practice is going to make a dif-ference because they still don’t know what type of set-up they need for all their chassis. The strategy is going to be com-pletely different when it comes to tyre wear, because it’s a very fast track, or a flowing track with a couple of opportunities for overtaking.
“I know from a competitive driver point of view that there is a lot of overtaking that is going to be done, against all of the spec-ulation that has been spread, that this is a straight-line kind of circuit, which it’s not. It’s very technical. It needs a lot of down-force. There are a lot of strategies that are going to be involved with the tyre wear here as well,” the QMMF official added.
