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- The Qatar Grand Prix is expected to be staged in soaring temperatures.
- Race day temperatures will peak at 38-degrees Celsius, but will drop to 32 for the race.
- The Grand Prix will also stage the fourth Sprint Race of the 2023 season.
- For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.
Qatar returns to the Formula 1 calendar after hosting its first Grand Prix in 2021. The race was absent in 2022 as the country hosted the Soccer World Cup, but it returns to kickstart a ten-year deal this year.
In addition to Sunday's main race, the Sprint Race also returns. It will be the fourth of six Sprint Races this year, with the two Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen (2) and Sergio Perez (1), sharing the wins in this format.
However, conditions may throw a spanner in the works and present a driver other than Red Bull's duo to reign supreme around the Lusail International Circuit - in both the Sprint Race and main Grand Prix.
Red Bull could get their setup wrong, like they did in Singapore. Though chances of it happening are slim, there is still a chance.
READ | 10-year deal to host F1 in Qatar kicks off, but country's laws still a touchy subject
According to early weather reports, maximum temperatures will peak at 41-degrees Celsius on Friday and drop to 38 on race day. For the race, which kicks off at 20:00 (19:00 SA time), temperatures will be a 'cool' 32-degrees Celsius.
Mario Isola, Pirelli's head of motorsport, said: "Just one hour of free practice will be available on Friday to determine the set-up and assess tyre behaviour over long runs.
"Furthermore, that session happens in the heat of the day - which will warm up the asphalt - as opposed to qualifying and the two races, which take place at night."
Tyre allocation
For this race, Pirelli opted to bring its next-hardest tyre allocation to the Grand Prix. The C1 white-walled tyre will act as the Hard tyre, with the C2 (yellow-walled) and C3 (red-walled) serving as the Medium and Soft, respectively.
Pirelli opted for this allocation, given the demands of the Lusail circuit.
"In terms of severity, Lusail is a very challenging circuit for tyres, similar to Silverstone and Suzuka," Isola notes.
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"There's quite a variety of corners, most of them medium speed and high speed. The series of corners between Turns 12 and 14 is quite reminiscent of the famous Turn 8 at Istanbul: one of the most demanding corners for tyres in the recent history of F1."
Following the 2021 race, organisers resurfaced the track and modified the kerbs. In addition, the cars are different from those of then (new technical regulations came into play in 2022), meaning that teams will approach it as if it is an entirely new track.
The 2021 data will only be relatively helpful.
