Qatar GP: Lusail grade one certification under FIA threat or even cancelled for future Grand Prix – The Qatar Grand Prix has proved troublesome since its introduction to the Formula One calendar. Designed as a circuit for motor bike racing, the Lusail venue was meant to be a temporary solution while the organisers built a purpose built F1 track.

The first event held in 2021, saw Lewis Hamilton claim the win, but four drivers suffered front left tyre failures whilst attempting one stop strategies during the Grand Prix. Pirelli had advised against this but these teams felt they were pushed into the strategy given the lack of pace their cars exhibited on the hardest set of compounds for the year.

After a year’s absence in 2022 due to the middle eastern state holding the FIFA world cup, F1 returned to Lusail only to have further tyre trauma’s which required drastic action from the FIA.

 

 

 

Lusail a persistent problem for F1

New razor kerbs had been installed to prevent the excessive track limits excursions, but they had the effect of cutting into the tyres once again. For the Sprint on Saturday, certain corners were re-profiled by re-painting the white lines to make certain corners tighter and therefore slower along with fake painted kerbs to given the drivers a reference point.

Yet despite these modifications Pirelli remained concerned that drivers would push the tyres too far in the Grand Prix and so mandated a maximum run length of 18 laps for the tyres.

The kerbs were re-profiled again for 2024 and neither the FIA nor Pirelli felt it necessary to enforce maximum tyre length stints. However, after the Grand Prix Pirelli’s routine examinations revealed a number of the tyres were worn beyond the tread and this potentially compromised the structure of the rubber.

Having raised the issue with the FIA earlier this season, the decision was made to limit the number of laps this weekend for any tyre to 25. Yet after the Sprint shootout, Pirelli again discovered deep cuts in a number of the tyres even those having done just 6 laps, meaning the construction base compound had been exposed.

Aston Martin team member reveals “things are out of control” at Silverstone HQ

 

 

 

More gravel traps for 2025

Hopes were high for a trouble free 2025 Qatar Grand Prix but it appears the culprit for the tyre cuts this year is the gravel trips installed to prevent track limits liberties by the drivers.

Gravel traps have been slowly re-introduced boy the current president of the FIA. They were based out in the naughties in favour of huge tarmac run off areas given once an F1 car was beached in the gravel it was race over.

The team’s lobbied the FIA that their weekend’s could be ruined so easily because of this and less cars running in the Sunday race diminished the viewing experience. Yet the giant car park runoffs were hated by the fans, as drivers now took liberties when entering certain corners, barely making an effort to remain within the track limits.

This writer asked Charlie Whiting at the time, why the FIA couldn’t police the entire track limits of each circuit, his reply was it was beyond the capabilities of race control. Yet now under Mohammed Ben Sulayem, track limits are policed at every turn on every circuit with much of the temptation to run wide now prohibitive to the drivers due to the smaller modern gravel traps – which the cars will not get stuck in, but the gravel may damage the crucial aerodynamics underneath the car.

Madrid: Rumours regarding readiness may be worse than thought

 

 

 

Pirelli find “deep cuts” after just 6 laps

The mid boggling question for Qatar is why did the organiser not fill the gravel traps with smooth pebbles rather than razor edged stone which is again cutting the Pirelli tyres?

Presumably there’s a frantic search for some smoother kid of gravel taking place in the middle east, which would solve some of the problem although not entirely.

“We had several cuts on the treads, all the corners [of the cars] affected,” said Pirelli’s chief engineer Simone Berra. “This is mainly due to the gravel traps we have here. The circuit added also three or four strips compared with last year and obviously the drivers, when they are pushing to the limit.

“They are bringing some gravel onto the race line and we have seen some quite deep gravel cuts. Some of them were very deep.” Given the very high cornering speeds and the high grip levels in Lusail, without the gravel the tyres are challenged and likely to suffer some kind of cuts although less severe in nature.

Aston Martin CEO role for Horner

 

 

 

Bearman’s Sprint qualifying ruined

Having extended the gravel traps to sit earlier in some of the corners, this has led to drivers dragging the gravel back on track, something which hurt the qualifying efforts of Oliver Bearman.

“For me the issue was on the final lap I was behind someone who just kept going off, so I had a lot of debris on track, gravel, which is really mainly an issue of the track,” revealed the Haas driver after being knocked out in SQ2. “You know a lot of us are complaining about the gravel, it’s not the best way in our opinion to solve things because we end up with what we have – which is basically gravel everywhere, damaging tyres and ruining laps,” Bearman concluded.

So with tyres cutting up dangerously after just six laps use, where does this leave the current Pirelli mandate that tyres are good for 25 laps maximum?

“So in qualifying, sprint qualifying sessions, drivers are going through the limit much more than during the sprint and the race,” explained Pirelli’s Simone Berra. “They stay a bit more on track during races, so it could be less of a concern during the sprint and Sunday during the race. But obviously, we want to keep our eyes open also on this matter.”

Serious allegations! F1 driver faces arrest in Germany

 

 

 

FIA should threaten Lusail organisers

Surely its time for the FIA to get tough with the organisers of the Qatar Grand Prix, even threat to remove its grade one license which allows them to hold F1 weekends? Despite the gravel and kerb issues, the circuit was built for motorbike racing and is possibly the most extreme example why the two forms of racing require fundamentally different track layouts. 

The high speed turns are not the problem per se but the lack of a heavy braking zone means the opportunities for overtaking are severely limited.

Secondly the flat corner profiles mean there are no alternative racing lines and the high speed nature of the turns leading onto the straights mean its practically impossible to set up a pass due to the ‘dirty air.’

Thirdly there are no big traction zones, where the different F1 car designs can be exploited and the only real hope of overtaking relies on a driver having a huge tyre offset to the one in front. All in all there’s little to commend Lusail as a race venue for F1.

 

 

 

Why the F1 drivers want the FIA’s hidden rule book gone for good

Introduced in 2022 and previously kept a secret, the F1 stewards ‘driving standards guidelines’ has in recent times led to heated debates inn the paddock over penalties issued – or not – and was the subject of an annual consultation with the drivers in the run up to the Qatar GP weekend.

The guidelines were introduced following repeated accusations that the stewarding decisions were inconsistent from weekend to weekend. Yet the codification of what is a legal overtake and what is a failed attempt deserving of a penalty has merely heightened the debate over whether F1 should have full time stewards.

Most recently, Oscar Piastri was penalised in the early stages of the Sao Paulo GP for attempting a move on the inside of Kimi Antonelli into turn one at Interlagos…. READ MORE

 

 

 

FIA stewards ‘driving standards guidelines’ under fire

Pretty much every ex-driver analyst believes the 10 second time penalty issued to the Australian was extreme and the matter should have been deemed a racing incident. Yet the document to which the stewards refer almost as a bible prescribed that Piastri must be punished because his from axel was not ahead of the wing mirror at the apex of the corner of the Mercedes he was attempting to pass.

So according to the guidelines, the decision was correct. But the question is whether this codification of overtaking moves is necessary at all or needs a complete reconsideration?

For overtakes around the outside, the rules are even more strict given this is considered a far more risky move. Here the driver attempting the move must be ahead at the apex and is then entitled to sufficient room to complete the turn without being forced from the track.

Aston Marton CEO role for Horner

 

 

 

Sainz calls for guidelines to be scrapped

Carlos Sainz alongside George Russell headed up the diver delegation for the meeting with the FIA in Qatar. The Spaniard has previously praised the level of detail provided by a number of ex-F1 drivers who are not pundits for Sky F1 and F1TV and believes this is the level of analysis is how the stewards should proceed.

“Every time I see this analysis that they do, and the verdict that they give, from racing drivers that have been recently racing, I think they do a very good analysis and they put the blame correctly most of the time on who actually has the blame or if it’s just a racing incident,” said the Williams driver.

Carlos goes on to advocate the scrapping of the current guidelines along with the installation of individuals into the stewards room who aer capable of providing such detailed analysis. “This is just my opinion but I am quite impressed at the job that some of the broadcasters do after the race with this in-depth analysis of the incidents and how they apply blame or no blame into certain scenarios.”

“I think that’s a level of analysis that I think is very high level and probably doesn’t mean we will agree 100 per cent on the cases of what these three ex-drivers give but I think they are a lot of the time they’re very close to being 90 per cent correct. If I would have to go and see F1 in the future, and the stewarding level, this is more or less a level I would appreciate,” Sainz concluded.

Marko says Newey not F1 team principal material

 

 

 

Post race F1 steward’s investigations proposed

Yet despite high hopes of progress it appears the outcome of the meeting in Qatar has once again concluded without a positive roads map for the future. Three stewards attended the meeting to remind the drivers the guidelines are merely that – not an infallible bible which is prescriptive for very situation.

The stewards insisted the drivers must react more responsibly to yellow flags than is currently the case. Further technology was proposed to assist the drivers in this endeavour given recent incidents where yellow flags/lights were outside the natural driving lobe of sight of the drivers.

The drivers made it clear they had a “preference” for hearings to be held with the stewards after the race when not all the relevant information about the incident are available at the time. However this is problematic for the fans, who are against wherever possible the final classified standings being altered.

Drama at the FIA: Could McLaren be thrown out of both 2025 F1 championships?

 

 

 

Fans prefer in race penalty decisions

McLaren’s disqualification in Las Vegas was announced when most fans in the same time zone had gone to bed and so the revised result was only the known the following day.

The kind of analysis to which Sainz refers that the broadcasters are offering, is not delivered hours after the chequered flag. It may take five to ten minutes for the back room staff to collate all the relevant camera angles, but the key is having an experienced driver to interpret the results.

Sainz concludes the guidelines have “created more problems than solutions,” and the results are “either white or black solutions rather than room for racing incidents.” The stewards did concede that the guidelines “cannot cover every scenario”  which is why an experienced driver steward is recruited for each race weekend’s panel.

Marko reveals Red Bull’s “huge advantage” in 2026

 

 

 

Professional F1 stewards called for again

The F1 stewards are appointed on a grace and favour basis from amongst the various FIA member associations and are paid expenses only. Carlos Sainz has been a strong advocate of full time permanent stewards as is the case in most professional sport who employ the referees who uphold the rules.

“If you have to attend 24 races nowadays, then that requires a fixed salary. The job has to be meaningful because it takes a lot of your time,” Sainz added. However, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has resisted the call for full time professional stewards, arguing this could lead to some kind of permanent bias – although others may describe this as a consensus.

No decisions were finalised on how the Driving Standard’s Guidelines will be shaped for 2026, with the FIA withdrawing from the meeting stating they would take all the seating points into account.

 

 

 

McLaren stubbornly claim they will change “nothing” for Qatar

Following the disaster for McLaren which saw both their cars disqualified from the 2025 Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, team boss Andrea Stella explained the team’s findings after investigations this week into the excessive plank wear they suffered.

The team had issued a statement apologising to the drivers hick also stated that they had experienced unexpected and excessive porpoising which affected the wear of the underfloor skid block.

McLaren failed to spot this due to interrupted running in the practice sessions, red flags and wet weather meaning the team never completed a proper dry run race simulation. Yet none of the other teams were affected, even Ferrari which has struggled all season with this issue… READ MORE