As the rain streamed down in São Paulo, race control was forced to suspend the first of the qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon. During the hour-and-twenty-six-minute delay, the medical car was sent out more than once to monitor the condition of the circuit. Each reconnaissance resulted in no news from race control about an imminent resumption.
The medical car is deployed rather than the safety car when conditions are particularly bad and there is standing water.The reason for this is that the medical car’s suspension sits higher than that of the safety car, and so in such conditions, it is safer to use this vehicle.
Eventually, Bernd Mayländer was sent out in the safety car and gave the all-clear signal to race control as a window appeared where much of the ferocity of the storm had abated. During the delay and in one of the lulls, a colleague of mine messaged me saying, “They can race when missiles are raining down—but not in actual rain.”
A Shaken Up Grid in Brazil
To be fair to the FIA, they did in fact call the resumption perfectly, and despite losing a few minutes at the end of Q3,qualifying was a complete success. The Pirelli wet tyres no one thought would ever see the light of day were good for Q1 and the start of Q2. The grid is tantalising and almost like a reverse grid, with Liam Lawson starting in P3, alongside Interlagos specialist Nico Hülkenberg in Audi’s best start of the year.
Isack Hadjar is a slightly disappointing P5 alongside Ollie Bearman in the recently uncompetitive Haas car. Behind them,George Russell starts P7 after a five-place grid drop, with Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Oscar Piastri rounding out the top ten.
Yet it was not the chaotic rain which was responsible for this surprising top-ten starting order, but rather significant grid-drop penalties for Verstappen and Hamilton, who start at the back of the grid. Leclerc too starts in P14 after a ten-place grid drop for using a power unit more than his allowance.
Geopolitical Risks and the Middle East Calendar
However, it was my colleague who got me thinking about the FIA’s mantra of safety and how, with tensions reportedly growing between Iran, Israel, and the USA, F1 can actually consider shipping thousands of people to the Middle East.
Should the MotoGP go without incident this weekend in Qatar, it will be another excuse for Liberty Media—who own both F1 and MotoGP—to say it is safe to travel to the Middle East. Yet any Iranian leader worth their salt would prefer to target F1 and its nigh-on infinitely larger audience than some bikers. MotoGP usually sells around 40,000 tickets across the Qatar race weekend, F1 traditionally has four times this number of fans in attendance.
Further, Qatar has hosted Iranian proxies in the past, such as leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah. So if Iran were to have one shot at causing chaos for the decadent Western tradition of motor racing, it would surely be when they are in the UAE, which was attacked multiple times when the war first broke out.
The brand of Islam in the UAE is the more moderate Sunni sect, very much unlike the theocratic Shia sect in Tehran.
Regional Sporting Cancellations vs. F1
Several sporting events have been cancelled this season in the region, with the World Endurance Championship cancelling its races scheduled for Bahrain and Qatar. The ATP Finals, one of tennis’s biggest events, has been relocated to the United States.
The Dakar Rally to be held in January will be moved to “another location,” presumably Morocco, and recently it was announced that the Rugby Nations Cup due to be held in Saudi Arabia has been moved. Yet the two events which will continue in the Middle East are the Liberty Media-owned competitions: MotoGP and Formula One.
Clearly, there are huge amounts of money at stake, with Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributing some $100m in hosting fees,not to mention the tens of millions which would be lost in refunding spectators’ tickets.
Evacuation Plans and the Imola Contingency
On the eve of the U.S. mid-term elections, the U.S. struck an island in the Strait of Hormuz where the Iranians had been erecting radar and missile sites. The advice from the U.S. government to its citizens is to avoid travelling to the region if at all possible, and on November 6th, the advice was updated, stating, “The hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly.”
This is surely not safe, despite the evacuation plans issued to all the teams and personnel should the situation flare up during F1’s visit. Lusail has now established designated safe areas, bomb-proof shelters, and clear evacuation routes across the paddock and the entire facility should an emergency be triggered.
Simply put, these procedures are not required this weekend in Brazil, nor for the race in Sin City in two weeks’ time. The fact that such processes are indeed required in Qatar and Abu Dhabi means the situation is clearly not safe.
Certain reports have suggested that Tuesday, November 10th, is the cut-off day to switch plans, cancel Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and have a single season finale at the Imola circuit in Italy. Preparations have been under way at Imola for several weeks as a backup plan, with infrastructure and grandstands being assembled.
Formula One is the perfect target for the Islamic Regime in Tehran to attack what their state-driven ideology often characterises as imperialistic powers intent on undermining Iranian sovereignty. Should the leaders of our sport finalise their decision to go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, they no longer have the right to cite “safety first” ever again.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
