Formula 1 News: 2025 Qatar GP Preview

Round 23 of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship takes the Formula 1 teams to the Lusail International Circuit for the Qatar GP.

Qatar first joined Formula 1’s calendar in 2021 at the Lusail International Circuit, located on the outskirts of the country’s fast-developing capital city, Doha. Qatar was absent in 2022, when it hosted the FIFA World Cup, but returned to the schedule in 2023 as part of a fresh long-term deal, with Formula 1 establishing itself at an extensively renovated Lusail.

The Lusail International Circuit is among the fastest on the calendar, with the majority of its 16 corners across its 3.3-mile layout taken at medium or high-speed. That puts high energy load through the tires, and as a consequence, on safety grounds Pirelli has introduced a maximum stint length of 25 laps per set of tires on each of the three dry-weather compounds. That means at least two pit stops will be mandatory through the course of Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix.

Qatar will also host the sixth and final F1 Sprint event of the 2025 campaign, the third time in as many years that Lusail has held the multi-race format.

Despite the night-based nature of Qatar’s event the temperature can also be a challenge, with hot ambient conditions accentuated last year by high humidity, which caused a severe physical trial for drivers. It is anticipated that such a predicament should be alleviated by the date shift of Qatar’s GP by almost two months.

Coming from Las Vegas, the Qatar GP couldn’t be more different. The Lusail International Circuit has many high-speed sections and few, if any, big braking zones. Despite going there later in the calendar than last year, it will still be very warm. That is in contrast to the cool conditions and many slow speed sections of Las Vegas

Downtown

Qatar is a modern place. The skyscrapers in Doha’s business district – an architectural smorgasbord that is best enjoyed from across the water, at the excellent Museum of Islamic Art, itself the work and vision of I.M. Pei – are as much a testament to the future-oriented approach of the country as its shiny new metro and other sporting and shopping marvels that sprouted up in recent decades, not least for last year’s football World Cup.

Long gone are the days when the tallest building in town was the Sheraton hotel, perched at the north end of the Corniche: the pyramid-like structure looks diminutive now, dwarfed by its towering neighbors, and stands as a reminder of a bygone era for a state that moved on with the times.

And yet, for all the steel-and-glass bravado exhibited in the ubiquitous towers, for all the opulence on display in the finest malls one can compromise their wallet in, there’s a romantic side to Qatar, one that can be found away from the latest addition to its architectural compendium. In Doha, you’re never far from the soul of old Qatar.

The Katara Cultural Village may give you a hint of what the past would have been, but it’s Souq Waqif where this all comes to life. Like a scene lift from Aladdin, or a setting for One Thousand and One Nights, the Souq takes you back to a more visceral, authentic Qatar. Labyrinthine alleyways, merchants, voices and noises from yesteryear come back to life; the smells of food, of spices, transport you to a different world, one of dhows, of pearl divers and of traders.

Souq Waqif may not be fully original: most of it burned to the ground in the early 90s. But it’s authentic, having been rebuilt and restored according to how history had it, even demolishing newer buildings to bring back to life those of tradition. Take a stroll through the maze of streets and you realize nothing is placed willy-nilly: there’s a reasoning for why things are done that way, for how the animal souq is laid out or where the falcon souq is placed.

Race Insight

• Race interruptions: Data is limited due to only two previous running of the Qatar GP, during which there was a sole Virtual Safety Car period. Ample run-off areas mean there’s less chance for cars or debris to get stuck on track therefore reducing the chance of race interruptions.
  Overtaking: With just one DRS zone, it’s difficult to pass at Lusail – but, excluding Lap One, there were 41 overtakes in the 2021 race, which shows that it is still possible to make moves.
  Strategy: The track has been completely resurfaced in 2023 so teams will need to learn how the tires – C1, C2 and C3 compounds allocated by Pirelli – behave on the new surface and factor this into their race strategy. It’s hard to avoid the high temperatures emanating from the Lusail track which was resurfaced in time for last year’s GP, to the extent that graining could be a feature, as it was in Las Vegas, albeit for opposite reasons: in Nevada it was caused by the cold and the lack of grip leading to the tires sliding on the asphalt, causing abrasion of the tire surface. This could have a significant impact on race strategy, with the tires possibly suffering from significant thermal degradation. Furthermore, there are so few precedents to these conditions that for now it is impossible to make predictions.

Unlocking the Lap

Lusail begins with a fast right-hander and a short blast to a fast left-hand bend.

Both opening corners are on-camber, meaning drivers can carry plenty of speed through the apex and out. Turns Four and Five are high-speed right-handers that blend into one another, almost making for one continuous long turn.

The middle sector is the most testing, beginning with the Turn Six hairpin – the slowest corner on the circuit that opens up into the long right-hairpin of Turn Seven. Turns Eight and Nine are full throttle, and Turn 10 is a rapid left-hander.

Turn 12 is a triple-apex right-hander – much like Turkey’s Turn Eight or COTA’s Turn 17 – that drivers on new tires and low fuel will relish. Turn 15 is a rapid left-hander that might demand a downshift during the race when running on high fuel or worn tires. The pit entry comes just before the final corner, which is a high-speed left-hand corner that leads onto the main straight.

Fact File: Qatar GP

• Following F1’s inaugural visit to the Lusail International Circuit back in 2021, the circuit was completely resurfaced ahead of its second race in 2023 with a completely new pit and paddock complex constructed in the run up to the race.
• This included larger pit garages, new team buildings, and new access tunnels.
• Temperatures during the day in Doha can reach close to 40°C, and several drivers found the conditions incredibly tough in 2023, as the race was held earlier in the year in early October.
• The track has a fast and flowing nature as it is predominantly used for motorcycle racing.
• There is only one corner, Turn Six, that sees the minimum speed drop below 100 km/h.
• There are therefore no heavy braking events for the cars to tackle, a unique occurrence on the 2025 calendar.
• While the braking energy requirement is low, there are still six braking events that the cars encounter across the lap.
• Pirelli has announced that a limit of 25 laps per tire will be introduced over the course of the whole race weekend. With the field set for a 57-lap Grand Prix, it means each driver will be stopping at least twice during the race.
• There are 16 corners in total: 10 to the right and six to the left. The track’s main straight covers over 1km of the total lap distance and is the sole DRS zone on the circuit.
• The pit lane in Qatar is the third longest of any circuit we visit on the calendar, behind only Imola and Silverstone. It clocks in at 502m, and the expected pit lane time is over 20 seconds.

Pirelli Tires

The Qatar Grand Prix is the penultimate race of the season and the last to be run to the Sprint format. It comes just one week on from Las Vegas, 13,000 kilometers as the crow flies from this week’s venue in Lusail. Both races and indeed the final one in Abu Dhabi, take place at night, but the weather could not be more different.

Conditions were cold on track in the Nevadan desert, but in Qatar drivers will have to deal with heat and humidity similar to that experienced in Singapore. The Middle Eastern track is particularly demanding for the tires and that has led to the introduction of an exceptional measure (explained below), restricting the number of laps that can be completed per tire set. This means the drivers will have to change tires at least twice during the race.

The compounds
The three hardest compounds in the Pirelli range have been selected for Doha. The C1, C2 and C3 are the obvious choice at a track where tires are subjected to energy levels similar to those experienced in Suzuka and indeed, these are the only compounds that have ever been run for this Grand Prix. This trio of compounds has previously been used three times this year, all in the early part of the season, in Japan, Bahrain and Spain.

Most of the corners at the Lusail track are high speed, which means the tires have little time to recover, and the section that works them the hardest is from turns 12 to 14. The track surface which is quite smooth has usually led to graining which contributes to producing a high wear rate on the tires.

In 2024
All drivers started the Qatar Grand Prix on the Medium tire with the exception of Nico Hulkenberg who opted for Hards. The one-stop strategy proved the most popular, with drivers looking to extend the first stint on the yellow-banded tire, managing to make it last well past the half race distance. The run of pit stops to switch to Hards began on lap 34, during a red flag period. The Safety Car made three appearances and during the final two of these, some drivers decided to go for a sprint finish, pitting again for a set of Softs. However, the softest compound suffered from too much performance drop-off and the gamble didn’t deliver the hoped-for result.

The track
The Lusail circuit was originally conceived as a motorcycle racing track, which is clear from its rather unique layout; fast and twisty with a straight that is over a kilometer in length. The circuit on the outskirts of Doha, presents the drivers, cars and tires with some unusual challenges. It boasts 16 corners, ten of them right handers while its desert location means that sand often gets blown onto the track, inevitably influencing track evolution. In an effort to prevent this, there are several areas of artificial grass around the circuit.

High temperatures are a distinctive feature of the Qatar weekend. Despite the fact the race is held at night, the high humidity, added to the residual heat built up during daylight hours, makes the cockpit a very demanding environment, to the extent that, in previous years, some drivers have felt unwell come the end of the Grand Prix. From a tire point of view, track temperature can lead to the appearance of graining even if, as is clear from earlier races this year, the current range of compounds seems to be more resistant to this phenomenon.

Keyword: number of laps
Every set of tires supplied to the teams at the start of the race weekend can cover a maximum of 25 laps of the Lusail track. The laps will be counted cumulatively across all track session, including laps run under the Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car.

Laps to the grid and formation laps and those completed after the checkered flag in the Sprint and the Grand Prix will not be included in the count. As the Qatar Grand Prix is run over 57 laps, each driver will inevitably have to change tires at least twice. Before the start of the Grand Prix, Pirelli will inform the teams how many laps are still available for each set.

The limitation, agreed with the FIA, F1 and the teams, was decided on to prevent the tires from reaching their maximum level of wear, as happened last year, when tires were nevertheless used past their working life, through management of their degradation. However, doing this puts excessive strain on the tire’s construction.

Statistics corner
This weekend’s race will be the fourth running of the Qatar Grand Prix, previously held in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Max Verstappen is the most successful driver in Doha, having won for the past two years, which also makes Red Bull Racing the constructor with the most wins. In 2023, the Dutchman sealed the championship title in the Qatari capital. He has also set two of the three fastest race laps, but has only started from pole position once. In the first year, 2021, Lewis Hamilton won from pole for Mercedes.

Fan Entertainment

Seal (November 28)
Seal is set to bring his iconic hits to the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix with a special performance on November 28, 2025. The British soul legend, known for classics like Kiss From a Rose, will headline the ‘F1 Family Friday’ celebrations.

Khalid (November 29)
American singer-songwriter Khalid will perform after qualifying takes place on November 29 at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. He is known for hits like Young, Dumb & Broke, Love Lies, and Eastside. With Khalid on stage, his fans can expect a night of unforgettable music to complement the thrilling on-track action.

Metallica (November 30)
Legendary rock band Metallica will be performing on November 30. With over 125 million albums sold, the band is one of the most successful in the music industry and a proud member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fans can expect classics like Enter Sandman, Master of Puppets, One, Nothing Else Matters, The Unforgiven, Fade to Black, Whiplash, and Seek & Destroy, among others.