Discussion
Dropped into the schedule for Nov 19th. That's going to be logistically interesting getting kit from Brazil. I guess it was always going to have to get to Saudi for Dec 3rd but it will leave a lot of people making rapid phone calls for hotel rooms and hospitality venues.
And drivers busy downloading Losail for rfactor.
And drivers busy downloading Losail for rfactor.
Although this is only today 'official', I don't think it's going to take the teams by surprise at all. It's been all but a done deal for over a month.
Agree that for F1 it's all about that long straight for the DRS pass. Beyond that... I don't have any particular interest or excitement for this circuit, but we'll see how it turns out..
EDIT: just been reading up, it is indeed just a single DRS zone so that will likely be the only practical overtaking point. Also noted that they currently don't know if it will be a night race or not.. I'd vote night race for the extra bhp and for the sake of variety - to stop all these middle east circuits looking the same..
Agree that for F1 it's all about that long straight for the DRS pass. Beyond that... I don't have any particular interest or excitement for this circuit, but we'll see how it turns out..
EDIT: just been reading up, it is indeed just a single DRS zone so that will likely be the only practical overtaking point. Also noted that they currently don't know if it will be a night race or not.. I'd vote night race for the extra bhp and for the sake of variety - to stop all these middle east circuits looking the same..
Edited by TheDeuce on Thursday 30th September 14:29
thegreenhell said:
It's almost certainly going to be a night race. All the other Arabian races are night races, and having it in daylight at that time of year would make it too early for the majority of the North American audience.
The Abu Dhabi GP is a ‘dusk’ race, starting at 5pm local time with a 6pm sunset. Bahrain has been something similar. Qatar also has the lights, so will be interesting to see what time they start. FourWheelDrift said:
Luckily Saudi Arabia and Qatar kissed and made up earlier this year or the logistics of going from one to the other would have required a long detour.
Yep! They knew the World Cup stuff couldn’t be done on their own, and had to concede the argument to their near neighbors for practical purposes. Yetski said:
It will be interesting to see if they improve on the viewing situation, with more grandstands.
Apart from this year I normally go to watch the MotoGP there, there is only the main grandstand and the top of the padock for spectators.
Was going to say, there's not many viewing points. Only the Main Stand and the Club Stand and it's pretty flat around the track (and dusty as hell with all the other construction going on for the World Cup). MotoGP was only limited to the Main Stand this year so a bit boring. I expect they'll have to put up a bunch of temporary seating or maybe the agreement included expansion plans for more stands.Apart from this year I normally go to watch the MotoGP there, there is only the main grandstand and the top of the padock for spectators.
jock mcsporran said:
Yetski said:
It will be interesting to see if they improve on the viewing situation, with more grandstands.
Apart from this year I normally go to watch the MotoGP there, there is only the main grandstand and the top of the padock for spectators.
Was going to say, there's not many viewing points. Only the Main Stand and the Club Stand and it's pretty flat around the track (and dusty as hell with all the other construction going on for the World Cup). MotoGP was only limited to the Main Stand this year so a bit boring. I expect they'll have to put up a bunch of temporary seating or maybe the agreement included expansion plans for more stands.Apart from this year I normally go to watch the MotoGP there, there is only the main grandstand and the top of the padock for spectators.
Maybe Qatar will be different. But looking at the circuit, I can't imagine it's going to entice people to travel very far to see the race - expect a smattering of locals and mostly people attending to network, business meets, schmooze etc - or simply to show off.
TheDeuce said:
It's a middle east race... It's for the kudos of having the GP, they don't really care if many people bother to turn up and watch it. In Bahrain, the busiest ever day was GP day in 2019 and they got still only had about 30k spectators. When they first started the GP there it was more like 20k I think.. it wasn't even half full.
Maybe Qatar will be different. But looking at the circuit, I can't imagine it's going to entice people to travel very far to see the race - expect a smattering of locals and mostly people attending to network, business meets, schmooze etc - or simply to show off.
Funny really, they'd probably find if they tripled the ticket price they'd get loads more people turning up, as you say, to show off that they can Maybe Qatar will be different. But looking at the circuit, I can't imagine it's going to entice people to travel very far to see the race - expect a smattering of locals and mostly people attending to network, business meets, schmooze etc - or simply to show off.
SturdyHSV said:
Funny really, they'd probably find if they tripled the ticket price they'd get loads more people turning up, as you say, to show off that they can
I did actually have a look around for ticket information today, but nothing so far. I’m in Dubai, so only an hour away on a plane. What I expect is that the Paddock Club and hospitality options will be busy, but very few grandstand seats sold to the general public. As with Bahrain, it should be easy for fans to get tickets if they want them.
Abu Dhabi will be a sellout on a slightly reduced capacity, and Saudi will probably be a sellout too.
Also, the track will now be totally ruined for the GP guys when they go there next. it is ONLY a bike track, not a car track, this will ruin in, but these countries are doing anything they can to get ANY top level sport in their countries so it is no shock people like Liberty will take their blood money.
LukeBrown66 said:
Also, the track will now be totally ruined for the GP guys when they go there next. it is ONLY a bike track, not a car track, this will ruin in, but these countries are doing anything they can to get ANY top level sport in their countries so it is no shock people like Liberty will take their blood money.
It's also probably a good thing for Western sports to go to troubled countries..Why will F1 ruin the circuit for the bikes?
I agree it's not really suitable for F1.
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