Spherical 18 of the 2023 Components 1 World Championship takes place this weekend in Qatar, and it may doubtlessly see Crimson Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen safe his third title. He wants to finish the weekend with a niche of at the least 146 factors over teammate Sergio Perez. At present the hole stands at 177 factors.
The Qatar Grand Prix was first held in 2021 as a alternative for a canceled Australian Grand Prix, and from 2023 it turns into a everlasting fixture on the calendar. The race takes place on the Losail Worldwide Circuit which is situated on the outskirts of Qatar’s capital metropolis of Doha, and incorporates a ring of synthetic grass designed to maintain sand from piling up on the monitor floor.
The monitor stretches 3.43 miles and usually performs host to bike races, together with a spherical of MotoGP. In consequence, it incorporates a quick and flowing nature, with the main focus very a lot on medium and high-speed corners. There are 16 corners in complete (10 right-handers and 6 left-handers) and the principle straight is nearly a fifth of a lap, with the tip of this straight being the one DRS zone.
The Losail Worldwide Circuit was opened in 2004, and its monitor floor dates again to that date, making it one of the vital abrasive on the calendar. In consequence, Pirelli has nominated its hardest compounds: the C1 because the white laborious, the C2 because the yellow medium, and the C3 because the purple comfortable.
Losail Worldwide Circuit, dwelling of the Components 1 Qatar Grand Prix
Because of the excessive temperatures in Qatar, the race is held at evening. This implies the evolution of monitor temperature over the course of the race may be very totally different in comparison with a daily afternoon race, with the potential for an enormous drop-off because the race goes on. Trying on the forecast, we must be in for tremendous climate all through the weekend.
This yr’s Qatar Grand Prix will function the Dash race along with the principle race, which we have beforehand seen at rounds in Azerbaijan, Austria, and Belgium. This season, the Dash race has been made a standalone occasion moderately than the qualifier for the principle race, as was beforehand the case. It nonetheless has championship factors on the desk for each drivers and groups, nonetheless.
The Dash race takes place on Saturday, with the traditional qualifying session moved as much as Friday. The principle race takes place on Sunday.
Going into the weekend, Verstappen leads the 2023 Drivers’ Championship with 400 factors. Perez is second with 223 factors and Mercedes-Benz AMG’s Lewis Hamilton is third with 190 factors. Within the Constructors’ Championship, Crimson Bull was named the title winner on the earlier spherical in Japan because of its 623 factors. Mercedes is second with 305 factors and Ferrari is third with 285 factors. The earlier winner in Qatar was Hamilton driving for Mercedes.
