Five Fast Facts about the Qatar Gran Prix

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. And it's going to be there for many years to come.

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. It has hosted MotoGP action every year since, and was also a venue for World Superbikes for many years. Very little car racing took place there before F1 arrived in 2021: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez won during a GP2 Asia round held in 2009, while two Speedcar stock car races on the same weekend featured famous faces like Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert and Jacques Villeneuve. Several other former F1 stars had raced around Losail three years earlier in the short-lived Grand Prix Masters series, where Nigel Mansell took victory.

Although there had previously been proposals for the Qatar Grand Prix to move to a purpose-built circuit or a street track in Doha, Losail now appears set to stay. With this in mind, the circuit facilities have undergone several substantial upgrades for 2023: these 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 quite abrasive over time. The circuit layout, though, remains the same as it always has been.

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.

Although a Formula 1 driver from Qatar might be some way off, the nation does have a world champion driver of its own: Nasser Al-Attiyah. An 18-time winner of the Middle East Rally Championship, he has also won the World Rally Championship's Production category and the main WRC2 support series. But it's in the Dakar Rally – where he's been a team-mate of Fernando Alonso – that Al-Attiyah has really made a name for himself, scoring his fifth win in the marathon event at the start of 2023. He's also the reigning World Rally Raid Champion – and an Olympic bronze medallist in clay pigeon shooting. He knows his way around Losail too, racing there in Speedcar, Porsche GT3 Cup and the World Touring Car Championship.