[Official] Qatar Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 20 of 22

[Born Racer]

From watching the cars out on track, the first half of the lap is fairly conventional, but from the kink at Turn 9 and quickly shifting the line and braking, the lap picks up - the last sector looks more challenging with the faster cars.

There will, of course, be a lot of interest this weekend in the Mercedes protest and aftermath.



Circuit length: 5.38km
Number of laps: 57
Race distance: 306.66km
Dry weather tyre compounds: C1, C2 & C3
Race lap record: n/a

First Grand Prix at this circuit: 2021
First Qatar Grand Prix: 2021

Join the fun in the Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156682

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156053

[crmalcolm]

No GP History?

[crmalcolm]

Statement helmet

[ascarracinguk]

Love the new Helmet from Lewis. Lots of people said he wouldn’t have the balls to take a stand in the Middle East….and here we are.

[steve_r]

Is overtaking going to be easy / possible at this track? I am asking as someone who has not yet watched any practice footage, and although I have seen MotoGP around here, cant for the life of me remember anything about it.

[S griffin]

We’ve seen a lot of slipstreaming on the straight in MotoGP. We’ll see if F1 can do the same

Have to say that running races at night here doesn’t look great. It works fine if you have a nice backdrop like Singapore, but here it just looks so dull at night. You see nothing other than the track, like it’s in the middle of nowhere

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

You see nothing other than the track, like it’s in the middle of nowhere

I think that's because it is in the middle of nowhere...

There's nothing much else to see in daylight:

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Is overtaking going to be easy / possible at this track? I am asking as someone who has not yet watched any practice footage, and although I have seen MotoGP around here, cant for the life of me remember anything about it.

The consensus seems to be that overtakes will be minimal:

Pérez - 'It looks fun. I think it’s going to be not much overtaking, so qualifying I think will be very important.'
Williams’ head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson - '[passing] could be tough [but] on their own the drivers will love it.'

And I think off-line, sand will be a bigger problem than marbles.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

[/I]
And I think off-line, sand will be a bigger problem than marbles.

Put it in bags. Someone will find a use for it.

[gert]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Statement helmet

I am not a fan, but for this he gets my respect.

I really like the design of this helmet. IMO the colors stand out much better on a dark background than on a white one (see Vettel's t-shirt)

[gert]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Put it in bags. Someone will find a use for it.

Ship it to Le Mans or a WEC race that prepares for Le Mans.
Or to any team that wants a re-adjustment of their BoP

[tux]

The onboards look like theyve been sped up. Track is really fast, not hopeful of anything happening on Sunday though.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I think that's because it is in the middle of nowhere...

There's nothing much else to see in daylight:

Yes, but the track looks more ‘alive’ in the daytime. A floodlight circuit in the middle of a nowhere does not

[bjohnsonsmith]

So the F1 circus rolls on into the featureless Qatari desert and what looks like a Tilkedrome, as the fallout from the Hamilton/Verstappen debacle continues to settle.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

So the F1 circus rolls on into the featureless Qatari desert and what looks like a Tilkedrome, as the fallout from the Hamilton/Verstappen debacle continues to settle.

Great intro!

[chunterer]

Lots of pundits coming up with how the track comparisons to other circuits.

I think it's a bit of a mash up between Jerez, Sepang and Assen!

It's a decent layout but I suspect there will be a bit of modification in the not too distant future to open up at least one more overtaking opportunity.

The best bit about yesterdays sky tv coverage was them having to dig out an in car lap by Kamui Kobayashi from GP2 Asia 12 years ago! Proper anorak stuff ha ha.

[Moneyseeker]

I fear this is going to be a weekend of protest and counter protest.

Sent from my SNE-LX1 using Tapatalk

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by chunterer

It's a decent layout but I suspect there will be a bit of modification in the not too distant future to open up at least one more overtaking opportunity.

Do you mean modifications during the weekend?

It's a one-off venue, then from 2023 the race will be at a different circuit.

[S griffin]

Interesting fact. Checo is the only one of the current grid who ha# raced here. That was back in 2009 in GP2 Asia

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Interesting fact. Checo is the only one of the current grid who ha# raced here. That was back in 2009 in GP2 Asia

Mazepin contested his first ever MRF Challenge round at the track in 2014, finishing P2 in the second race

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Mazepin contested his first ever MRF Challenge round at the track in 2014, finishing P2 in the second race

Dammit, we’ve been lied to! Or maybe some prefer to forget Nikita

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Mazepin contested his first ever MRF Challenge round at the track in 2014, finishing P2 in the second race

Only 2 entrants?

[chillibowl]

Reminds me of a rural venue, somethig built in an empty farmers field, lights of the city way off in the distance. I like it and the drivers look to be on it the whole lap.

Plus sparks.

If you build it they will come!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Only 2 entrants?

Believe it or not, 14 drivers competed, including Mathias Lauda.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Perez fails to get into Q3.