Five Things to Know About the Qatar GP

Next week is the final Grand Prix of 2024, but first we have to tackle the season's last Sprint weekend.

Qatar's short-form race was thrilling last year, and the high heat in Sunday's main event caused headlines.

Combined with tyre troubles in 2021, there's a surprising amount of history for a country with only two F1 trips so far!

Here's a look at five things you should know about the Qatar GP.

Formula 1 will enter new territory with this weekend's race being the 23rd round of the 2024 season.

That marks the most grands prix events in any F1 year, surpassing the previous record of 22 races we've had each season since 2021.

Although 2023 had 24 races scheduled, cancellations reduced the calendar by two, so Qatar has the honour of breaking new ground for the sport.

This would not have been the case last year, however, with the race being notably earlier in the scheduling.

This third running of the Qatar GP sees the country hosting the race later in the season than ever before.

2021 was an unexpected debut for the Lusail International Circuit, which replaced the Covid-cancelled Australian GP, and took place on November 21st.

Last year's October 8th event saw high humidity and drivers struggling with the intense heat during the race, something the FIA took steps to alleviate for 2024 and beyond.

The 2024 Qatar GP will run on December 1st, and the temperatures will be much lower than we saw last year.

Travelling will also less gruelling for the drivers, with this season's calendar better placing circuits geographically together, with a shorter trip to Abu Dhabi next week instead of it's 2023 placement between the Japanese GP and USGP.

Our junior drivers in the Williams Racing Driver Academy will share the track with Alex and Franco for the first time since Singapore.

Most racing in F1's feeder series takes place in Europe, so there's been a slowdown in our future stars supporting a Grand Prix since the flyaway events increased in frequency from September.

Lia Block was on track at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for F1 Academy's last round in Singapore, picking up her best finishes in single-seater machinery and will be raring to go around Qatar.

It's been an even longer wait for Luke Browning, who last raced over the Azerbaijan GP weekend for his F2 debut.

Luke will have a busy time in the Middle East after hearing the news he'll drive in the Abu Dhabi FP1 session and Young Driver Test after the season finishes.

Last year's Qatar Sprint saw one of Alex's most memorable days for Williams Racing, when he recovered from a disappointing Sprint Shootout to reach the points.

His P17 grid slot transformed into a P7 finish despite the stop-start running over a frantic 19 laps of Lusail.

Albono navigated three Safety Car slowdowns and reached P8 by the chequered flag, securing us our first point in the Sprint race format.

His spirited fighting and overtaking efforts meant he fully earned a point-scoring finish, but there'd be another bonus for us after the race.

Charles Leclerc dropped five seconds after exceeding track limits too many times, leaving Alex in P7 and scoring two points for his 2023 tally.

The Lusail International Circuit isn't topping any tables with the track length, number of corners, altitude change, or top speeds.

Qatar's track doesn't even have any named turns on a tour around its 5.380 km of tarmac.

Yet there's something about many of those 16 corners that creates a challenge for drivers to tackle, with so many being right-angled or tighter.

Six of the turns have the cars navigating 120° or more, while Turn 4 and Turn 5 combine to make a 180° direction change in quick succession.

Alex and Franco must have full focus once they leave the pit straight as they'll constantly be working the steering wheel until they exit Turn 16 to conclude a lap.