MoneyGram Haas F1 Team's 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship campaign will continue with Round 18, the Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit.
Formula 1 marked new territory in 2021 when it visited Qatar for the first time, with long-term MotoGP venue Lusail hosting the championship. After a break in 2022 for Qatar to host the FIFA World Cup, Formula 1 has returned to the Gulf island state, and to a renovated and refreshed Lusail. The circuit layout has not been altered since 2021's debut but the facilities have been upgraded to meet Formula 1's standards, with a new pits and paddock complex, revamped surroundings for increased spectator capacity, while the event itself becomes a fully-fledged night race.
This year's event marks the first in a 10-season deal between Formula 1 and organizers in Qatar, sealing Lusail's place on the calendar for the long run.
Lusail is known as a high-energy circuit, with sequences of medium- and high-speed long-radius turns linked by full-throttle blasts. Only once across the course of a qualifying lap around the 5.4km 16-turn circuit do drivers need to dip below fourth gear, with Lusail's greatest challenge coming through Turns 12-13-14, three right-hand corners taken in seventh gear at quick succession. That puts a high energy load through the tires, even in cooler night-time conditions, while the situation is accentuated by the need to utilize the aggressive entry and exit curbs for maximum apex speed.
Neither MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen nor Nico Hulkenberg have ever tackled the Lusail International Circuit in Formula 1 machinery, having been absent from the grid in 2021, when the circuit hosted its sole Formula 1 event to date. Hulkenberg nonetheless has previously driven, and won, at Lusail, having claimed victory in the GP2 Asia Series in 2009.
The Qatar Grand Prix will be the fourth of six F1 Sprint events in 2023, the first time that the revised weekend format has been run at Lusail.
The Singapore Grand Prix offered the highlights of the recent Singapore-Japan double-header - with the team landing both cars in Q3 and Kevin Magnussen piloting his VF-23 to a hard-earned 10th place finish and a valuable point. Capturing something, as was the case in Singapore, when it wasn't necessarily expected - how much of that is down to the mentality of the team in being able to successfully seize those opportunities when presented with them?
Guenther Steiner: "We know our car and that we're struggling at the moment in the race, everyone is well aware of this. Always, the whole team tries to do their best, starting with the drivers, to the mechanics and engineers, squeezing everything out of what we've got. Then when the opportunity is there, we get a point or at least we get something from qualifying. If you look at our pit stops in the last races, they were pretty good. Hats off to the team as they keep their heads up and keep on pushing as they know better days are ahead."
The Japanese Grand Prix offered more of a reality check given the well-documented challenges with the VF-23 in its current guise. How do you personally manage what can often be a roller-coaster of emotions from one race weekend to the next?
GS: "It's very simple, just look forward and know what we are doing as a team. We're working hard to get out of this hole and that's what motivates me every day of the week. I wouldn't be here if I didn't know we're working hard and getting better to where we want to be and should be."
This weekend is only the second-ever visit to Qatar for Formula 1 - with the sport making its debut at the track back in November 2021. What were your first impressions of the circuit and what do you look forward to on the return - knowing that garage and paddock facilities have been upgraded since?
GS: "In 2021, when we visited the first time, it was a 'last-minute' call I'd say. We were welcomed very much by everyone in Qatar and it was a good race. I remember the smaller garages but that was because they were built for motorbikes, but the facilities have all been upgraded and they look very good. There were some issues with the floor because of the curbs I remember, but let's see what has been done. The only thing that has me scratching my head is the temperatures, which are really high, in the forties. We're racing at night though, so it should be okay."
The team is busy focusing on the VF-23 upgrade package set to be introduced at the United States Grand Prix later this month - can you give an overview of the current workflow and the challenge in introducing it at this stage of the season?
GS: "The program is on-plan so everything should be done. Everyone in the team has done a good job in doing the planning for this - the purchasing department has worked day and night to get everything ordered in time, the design office worked and gave the drawings to the purchasing department - the company worked as it should. We don't know how good the upgrade will be, we expect something good out of it, but the best thing is that we're going in the direction we want to go next year and we will learn a lot this year for next season."
Round 18 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Championship brings the paddock back to Qatar, after a year hiatus. You haven't raced around Lusail International Circuit previously, what do you know of the circuit and as a driver of over 150 races, how do you tackle getting familiar with a new circuit?
Kevin Magnussen: "It's a new circuit to me, I've never driven it, but I like getting to know new tracks and there's so much data and information available nowadays you can prepare quite well so I feel like I already know the track. It's still going to be a new experience, what requirements from the track and how the curbs feel are things that I need to explore when I get there. I get one practice before qualifying, but it is what it is and I just have to get on the pace as quickly as possible."
Lusail is a track that also hosts two-wheeled sporting events, like Barcelona, Silverstone, Spielberg and COTA. What characteristics do these tracks have and do they offer Formula 1 more or fewer opportunities during a racing lap?
KM: "Due to the aerodynamics on the car, we tend to struggle with following other cars in those types of corners that this track has plenty of, the medium-, high-speed corners, but I think the main straight is long enough with DRS that overtaking is possible there and also it's a very wide track so you can make alternative lines to make your clear air, so from what I've seen from 2021, it looked like overtaking was possible."
The Qatar Grand Prix starts a run of Sprints, with three of the next four races using the format. Is that something you're in favor of?
KM: "I enjoy Sprint weekends because there's more pressure. Most of the weekend, even with FP1 there's pressure because it's the only one you get. From the beginning of the weekend, it's more exciting."
Round 18 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Championship brings the paddock back to Qatar, after a year hiatus. You haven't driven the Lusail International Circuit in a Formula 1 car before, what do you know of the circuit and as a driver of over 150 races, how do you tackle getting familiar?
Nico Hulkenberg: "I've raced around Lusail in GP2 Asia, in 2009. Obviously, that was a few years ago, but it's a very fast and flowy track. I quite like an evening race and as it's a Sprint, it will make it challenging, but that's what we're here for."
Lusail is a track that also hosts two-wheeled sporting events, like Barcelona, Silverstone, Spielberg and COTA. What characteristics do these tracks have and do they offer Formula 1 more or fewer opportunities?
NH: "I think we notice on the curbs, the exit curbs for bikes have to be flatter obviously for safety reasons, and normally there is some astroturf behind the curb as well. I think you can tell whenever a track is for two as well as four wheels, there's a distinctive difference, but that offers variety."
The Qatar Grand Prix starts a run of Sprints, with three of the next four races using the format. Is that something you're in favor of?
NH: "We know we have upgrades coming but we're not sat around waiting for them, as a team we're still pushing each other and striving for a faultless weekend in terms of execution and strategy. Sprints bring more pressure, so bring it on."
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