Sat. May 27th, 2023

Qatar stepped in at a late stage in the course of the COVID-hit 2021 season to fill a hole in the calendar left by the cancellation of other events.

The nation subsequently signed a ten-year deal with F1 to begin in 2023, with 2022 skipped to prevent any clash with the FIFA Globe Cup.

Immediately after the initial F1 occasion had to deal with the compromises produced by modest pit garages that had been developed for MotoGP, as nicely as short-term group hospitality buildings in the paddock, the circuit has responded by constructing a entirely new pit and paddock complicated, as nicely as adding tunnels and enhancing access and parking.

“The Globe Cup was completed currently in 2022,” mentioned Amro Al-Hamad, CEO of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation and the Losail circuit. “We are the new Globe Cup for the subsequent ten years.

“We’ve collected a lot of lessons discovered in the course of the Globe Cup. All the departments, all the authorities in the state of Qatar are eager to really come and assistance us out with all that they collected in the course of that period.

“There is a lot when it comes to the organisation of the fans going in and out (and) when it comes to safety measures.

“Everyone now is incredibly eager to share their experiences with us to make positive that we provide an even greater calibre occasion than the Globe Cup was.”

Losail International Circuit overview

Photo by: QMMF

The building function will see the creation of a new race manage facility and media centre as nicely as bigger pit garages.

“The F1 paddock is state of the art,” mentioned Al-Hamad. “We have not left any stone unturned. We’ve collected lots of lessons discovered from other circuits about the planet.

“The pit boxes are now appropriate for F1 racing, opposite to the ones that we had for Moto GP in the previous. We have 50 boxes. I never consider that anyone else inside the F1 calendar has that quantity of pit boxes.

“The alterations also reached the group buildings. It really is a full adjust from what we had in the previous.

“We applied to have one particular tunnel. Now we have up to 4 tunnels to serve the entrance and the exit of the spectators.”

As portion of the upgrade function the circuit has been resurfaced, while there have been no alterations to the layout.

Losail International Circuit overview

Losail International Circuit overview

Photo by: QMMF

When the investment in the Losail upgrades suggests that the permanent venue is now favoured, the choice of moving the grand prix to a street layout in Doha has not totally disappeared.

“It was one particular of the several suggestions that we had currently on our agenda,” mentioned Al-Hamad. “It’s just some thing that we explored. Possibly, likely, it really is going to be some thing in the future.

“I’m not telling you it really is going to be, but we’re just open now for so several suggestions. We are not leaving any stone unturned, but it really is not confirmed news or something.”

By Editor