Qatar 2026 GP preview
Weekend schedule
All timezonesTimes shown in circuit-local time (GMT+3).
- FP1Fri16:30
- FP2Fri20:00
- FP3Sat17:30
- QualifyingSat21:00
- RaceSun19:00
A forecast appears here once the weekend is inside the forecast window.
The circuit
Full circuit guide →Lusail International Circuit · 5.419 km · 16 corners · clockwise
Historic moments
2023 · The race drivers called torture
The 2023 race was run in such extreme heat that Logan Sargeant retired with heat exhaustion, Esteban Ocon vomited inside his helmet but kept racing to seventh, and several more drivers needed the medical centre afterwards - widely called one of the most physically brutal Grands Prix ever run.
2021 · Verstappen's penalty hands Hamilton the win
Max Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix after failing to slow for waved yellow flags in qualifying, dropping him from a front-row time to seventh on the grid. Lewis Hamilton converted pole into victory, cutting Verstappen's championship lead to eight points with two rounds left in their title fight.
What makes it different
- Built for MotoGP in 2004, so the run-off is enormous and the kerbs are shallow - the aggressive kerb strategies that work elsewhere have nothing to bite on here.
- A sequence of medium and high-speed corners with almost no heavy braking, which puts sustained lateral load into the tyres and made tyre life the defining issue of its 2023 race.
- Desert sand blowing onto the circuit is a routine variable across the weekend.
- The circuit sits in Lusail City, the purpose-built development north of Doha whose 80,000-seat stadium hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France.
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