Everything you need to know about the coming 2023 Qatar F1 GP
The 2023 Formula 1 season continues with the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, the 17th race of the campaign and the one that can gift Max Verstappen and Red Bull the World Drivers' Championship with five races to spare in the calendar.
Third Consecutive F1 Title Verstappen
The event will also include the fourth Sprint weekend of the six planned for 2023 (Austin and Sao Paulo will host the other two to close out the Sprint season).
Max Verstappen arrives at this round with 400 points and 13 wins out of 16 weekends in 2023. His teammate Sergio Pérez is second with only 223 points and a couple of victories.
Including Qatar, there are 180 points available for drivers in the rest of the 2023 F1 campaign, and Verstappen's advantage over his closest 'challenger' is at 177 points. The Dutchman only needs to score three points until the end of the season to win the title, and it means that the WDC could be sealed as soon as next Saturday, during the Sprint race in Qatar.
If Verstappen finishes sixth or higher in the Sprint race, he will be the 2023 World Drivers' Champion, so the situation is quite straightforward for Red Bull's driver. If Sergio Pérez doesn't finish in the Top 3 in the Sprint Race, Verstappen will be champion in that event regardless of his own finishing position.
2023 Qatar GP Facts & Figures
The 2023 edition will be the second of the Qatar Grand Prix in Formula 1 history. The race was not part of the 2022 season due to the FIFA World Cup celebrated in the country, but it's back to stay in the F1 calendar.
The event will be run as a night race, starting at 20:00 local time. The previous race was run under completely different aerodynamic specifications in 2021, and the 2023 event will be the first with the modern Ground Effect cars.
Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 race for Mercedes ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso's Alpine. It marked Alonso's first F1 podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Losail International Circuit Track info
The Losail International Circuit debuted in Formula 1 with a normal race in 2021 but with significant implications in the title fight. It was expected that the circuit would not return to F1, as there were plans to build a new venue for the Grand Prix from 2023 on. However, it will host the Qatar GP for the second time.
The track is a 5.419 km long circuit with 16 corners and a 1.068 km main straight. Apart from hosting Grand Prix motorcycle racing events since 2004, the Losail International Circuit has also received the Superbike World Championship, the FIA WTCC (current FIA WTCR) and other series like the GP2 Asia (Sergio Pérez won at the venue in 2009).
The MotoGP events have been at night time since 2008.
Turn 1 will be the main, and possibly the only, overtaking zone at the venue, with the only DRS positioned on the main straight.
The event will be run to 308.611 kilometers (57 laps).
The pits and entire paddock have been upgraded for 2023 to accommodate F1 in a much better way than in 2021 (small boxes built for MotoGP weren't great for cars).
2023 Qatar Grand Prix - Tyres
The dry tyres for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix will be the C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft.
Pirelli's Head of Motorsport, Mario Isola, explained Pirelli's view for the weekend: “Formula 1 now returns to Qatar, two years after its debut there in 2021. But in many ways, it’s another new beginning, as the cars are now very different to the ones we saw a couple of years ago and the Losail circuit has been completely resurfaced, with modified kerbs as well. On paper, the track’s main features remain the same – with a main straight just over a kilometre long and 16 corners – but it’s clear that the changes made over the last two years mean that the data collected from the first grand prix is only relatively useful.
In terms of severity, Losail is a very challenging circuit for tyres, similar to Silverstone and Suzuka. So it’s no coincidence that the compounds chosen are the same: C1, C2, and C3. There’s quite a variety of corners, most of them medium speed and high speed.
The series of corners between Turns 12 and 14 is quite reminiscent of the famous Turn 8 at Istanbul: one of the most demanding corners for tyres in the recent history of Formula 1. This sequence is also one of the most influential factors to a good lap time. The fact that 11 of the 16 corners are right-handers puts particular stress on the left of the car, especially at the front, but the energy levels seen going through the tyres in 2021 were still quite well-balanced between the two axles.
Another factor making the Qatar Grand Prix even more challenging for us as well as the drivers and the teams is the return of the Sprint format. Just one hour of free practice will be available on Friday to determine the set-up and assess tyre behaviour over long runs; furthermore that session happens in the heat of the day – which will warm up the asphalt – as opposed to qualifying and the two races, which take place at night.
So everything is in place for an interesting weekend as well as perhaps a few surprises; the ability to adapt quickly and well to the track could deliver a significant advantage.”
The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 25.0 PSI (front) and 21.5 PSI (rear).
2023 Qatar Grand Prix - Weather Forecast
Friday, Oct 6th - FP & Qualifying
Conditions: Cloudy
Max. temperature: 39°C
Chance of rain: 0%
Saturday, Oct 7th - Sprint Shootout & Sprint Race
Conditions: Cloudy
Max. temperature: 39°C
Chance of rain: 2%
Sunday, Oct 8th - Race
Conditions: Clear skies
Max. temperature: 40°C
Chance of rain: 3%
Who will be on the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix podium?
2023 Qatar F1 GP podium: 1st Sir Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2nd Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing & 3rd Fernando Alonso, Alpine
While Max Verstappen is going for the F1 title this weekend and he's the only candidate for victory both in the Sprint and the main race, there are other fights on the grid that could give us a bit of excitement for the rest of the season. While Pérez's name is mentioned as the only 'opposition' to Verstappen's title permutations, the reality is that the Mexican needs to salvage at least P2 in the WDC while driving one of the most dominant cars in F1 history, perhaps the most dominant ever.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is only 33 points behind Pérez and is certainly a threat to the Mexican's spot in the standings.
Moreover, Ferrari (285 points) is threatening Mercedes (305 points) for P2 in the World Constructors' Championship. Given the consistency of Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, and Mercedes' own struggles with its car, Ferrari should take that spot in the WCC to truly reflect the pecking order of 2023 between the Scuderia and Mercedes.
Meanwhile, McLaren (172 points with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and its amazing turnaround is putting the team closer and closer to Aston Martin (221 points with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll) for fourth place in the World Constructors' Championship. McLaren has outscored Aston Martin 57-4 in the last two races.
Behind Max Verstappen, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Mercedes could be fighting out for the rest of the podium places, and that struggle could provide the only entertainment of the weekend.
The prediction for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix is: 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lando Norris, 3. Fernando Alonso.
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Good thing the Qatar GP will face such high daytime temps only once before getting bearable temps again.
My top 3 prediction for the race is VER-NOR-PIA.