The Doha/Losail circuit in numbers

1 : The Qatar Grand Prix is part of the very exclusive club of Grand Prix that only take place once. With the return of F1 to the Persian Gulf this week, this will make this small group even more exclusive, reducing it to 6 races. It is notably amusing to note that the majority of these one race wonders owe their genesis to the Covid 19 crisis.

1’20″827 : In 2021, Lewis Hamilton arrived at the Qatar Grand Prix trailing Max Verstappen by 14 points in the championship. His 1’20″827 in qualifying was not only enough to grant him pole position but also enough to discourage his rival from as early as Saturday by putting 5 tenths of a second ahead. At the end of the race, the points difference between the two men had dropped to 8 units.

98 : After a drought dating back to the Hungarian Grand Prix 2014, Alonso had taken advantage of Valtteri Bottas’s puncture in the last Qatari race to climb onto his 98th podium in Formula 1. His only one with the Alpine team. The Bull of Asturias now has 105 finishes in the top 3, which places him 5th in this category in the history books, just behind Alain Prost but ahead of Kimi Räikkönen.

146 : This is the number of points that Max Verstappen needs if he wishes to leave Losail as the triple world champion. Already having a lead of 177 points over Sergio Perez, the Dutchman simply needs to finish ahead of the Mexican. If the latter won the Sprint and the main race, Verstappen would then only need the 4 points from the 8th place. The mission seems almost impossible for Tom Cruise’s lookalike.

5 : If Max Verstappen wins the title at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix, he would accomplish this feat with 5 races remaining on the calendar. He would then equal Nigel Mansell, who, in 1992, had already managed to leave his mark in such an authoritative way on a season. However, the leader in this category is none other than Michael Schumacher. In 2002, at Magny Cours, the Red Baron had clinched his fifth crown with 6 races remaining.

16 : Made up of 16 bends, some of which are very fast (the average speed being 217km/h), staying focused will be the key to having a good race. Especially since the circuit located near Doha only has one DRS zone.

2032 : Recently added to the FOM calendar, Qatar is set to become a familiar circuit for F1 fans. Indeed, the country has signed a contract that guarantees its place until 2032. However, future races may take place on a brand new circuit.

5,419 : That’s the distance in kilometers of this Losail circuit. It ultimately makes it quite a long track, in the average of modern circuits. The circuit has been somewhat lengthened since it measured at its first F1 Grand Prix in 2021 5,380 km.

The straight line alone measures 1.068 km!