Lusail Circuit first joined the F1 calendar in 2021 and has now hosted the Qatar Grand Prix three times. Here are all the facts and stats you need to know about the track ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend!
Track length: 5.419km
Race length: 308.611km
Laps: 57
Turns: 16
Circuit opened: 2004
F1 first visited: 2021
Races held: 3
Track Record: 1:20.520, Max Verstappen, Q3, 2024
Lap Record: 1:22.384, Lando Norris, 2024
RACE WINNERS AT THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
The Qatar Grand Prix joined the Formula 1 calendar for the first time in 2021. It did not appear on the calendar in 2022 due to the country hosting the FIFA World Cup. Lusail Circuit returned in 2023 as part of a 10-year deal.
The three races here to date have had two different winners. Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen won in both 2023 and 2024.
Verstappen’s wins mean Red Bull are the team with the most wins at the track, while the Netherlands is the nation with the most wins.
In 2024, Max Verstappen became the first back-to-back winner at the Qatar Grand Prix.
At the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Max Verstappen became the first driver to record a Grand Slam at Lusail Circuit. He took pole, led every lap and set the fastest lap on his way to winning the race.
No team has recorded a 1-2 finish yet in a Grand Prix at this track. McLaren are the only team to finish with both cars on the podium at Lusail Circuit. They did so in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, where Oscar Piastri finished second and Lando Norris was third. McLaren also recorded a 1-2 finish in the Sprint race at the circuit in 2024.
The largest win margin to date in Qatar came in 2021, when Lewis Hamilton won by 25.743 seconds. The smallest win margin here is 4.833 seconds, which is the margin by which Max Verstappen won in 2023.
The average win margin so far at the Qatar Grand Prix is 12.202 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
Six different drivers have finished on the podium in the two races held to date in Qatar.
Verstappen and Piastri are the only drivers with multiple podium finishes at the Qatar Grand Prix.
All six of the previous Qatar Grand Prix podium finishers are on the 2025 grid. Max Verstappen is the only driver with three podium finishes at Lusail Circuit, while Oscar Piastri is the only other driver to have taken multiple top three finishes at the track. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc each have a single top three finish at the track.
READ MORE: F1 Driver Form – Qatar Grand Prix
Red Bull and McLaren are the teams with the most Qatar Grand Prix podiums
Red Bull and McLaren are tied as the teams with the most podium finishes at the Qatar Grand Prix. They are the only teams who’ve recorded multiple top three finishes here. Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull in 2021 and won with the team in both 2023 and 2024. Both McLaren drivers finished on the podium in 2023, while Oscar Piastri finished third in 2024.
Mercedes, Alpine and Ferrari are the only other teams to finish on the Qatar Grand Prix podium.
The Netherlands has the most podiums
The Netherlands has the most podium finishes of any nation at the Qatar Grand Prix. Max Verstappen has recorded all three of the podium results for Dutch drivers.
Britain and Australia are tied for second on the list of nations with the most podiums at the track, while Spain and Monaco are the only other nations with podium finishes here.
QATAR GRAND PRIX POLESITTERS
There’s yet to be a repeat Qatar Grand Prix polesitter. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and George Russell have taken a single pole each at the track.
Verstappen has set the fastest qualifying time twice in Qatar but was demoted one position on the grid in 2024.
Hamilton and Russell’s poles mean Mercedes are the team with the most pole positions in Qatar, while Britain is the nation with the most poles at the track.
There’s yet to be a front row lock-out in Qatar
Neither Mercedes nor Red Bull locked out the front row when they took pole for the Qatar Grand Prix. Mercedes have come closest to doing so, setting the first and third fastest times in Q3 in 2021 and the second and third fastest times in 2023.
The average pole margin in Qatar is 0.317 seconds
The first two pole positions in Qatar were decided by similar margins. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the largest pole margin at the Qatar Grand Prix, having taken pole by 0.455 seconds for the inaugural 2021 race.
The smallest pole margin here belongs to Max Verstappen, who secured the fastest qualifying time in 2024 by 0.055 seconds.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
All three Lusail races have been won from the front row
Both of the first races at Lusail Circuit were won by the polesitter. In fact, the polesitter led every lap in both of the first two races at the track. Max Verstappen won from second on the grid in 2024. He also led every lap on his way to victory.
In 2024, George Russell became the first Qatar Grand Prix polesitter to fail to lead at the end of Lap 1. He was third in the order at the end of the opening lap.
Five podium finishes from outside the top three on the grid
The three wins from the front row and Fernando Alonso’s third place finish from third on the grid in 2021 are the only podium finishes from inside the top three grid so far at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The furthest back podium finish at the Qatar Grand Prix to date came from 10th on the grid. That’s where Lando Norris started when he finished third in 2023. Other podiums have come from sixth and seventh.
There’s yet to be a race here in which the top three on the grid finished in the same order as they started.
READ MORE: Grid Slot Statistics – Qatar Grand Prix
SUNDAY STATISTICS
171 Grand Prix laps have been raced to date at Lusail Circuit.
Three drivers have completed all 57 laps of both races in Qatar so far: Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen.
No team has seen both drivers complete every lap of all three races at the track. McLaren are the closest to having done so, with their drivers completing 340 of the total possible 342 laps.
Max Verstappen holds the record for most laps led in Qatar, having led 114 laps at the circuit. Hamilton is the only other driver to have led a Grand Prix at the track, leading all 57 laps in 2021.
The Safety Car made its first appearance here in 2023. The Virtual Safety Car had already made an appearance in 2021. There were a further three Safety Car deployments during the 2024 race. In addition, there were two Safety Car deployments during the Sprint at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
There’s yet to be a red-flagged Qatar Grand Prix, nor has there been a race at Lusail Circuit which failed to reach its full distance.
Unsurprisingly, there have been no rain-affected sessions to date in Qatar.
The shortest race to date at the track is the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, which was won in a time of one hour and 24 minutes. The 2024 race was the longest, at one hour and 31 minutes.
Max Verstappen has the most fastest laps at the track, having set the fastest lap in both 2021 and 2023. Lando Norris set a new Lap Record and became the second driver to set the fastest lap at Lusail Circuit in 2024.
Three different drivers have been voted Driver Of The Day so far at the Qatar Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso won the vote in 2021, Oscar Piastri won in 2023 and Zhou Guanyu received the most votes in 2024.
The overall finish rate so far at the Qatar Grand Prix is 85%
Of the 60 cars which have entered races here, 50 have finished. That gives an overall finish rate of just under 85%.
The highest number of finishers at the Qatar Grand Prix is 18, which is how many drivers finished in 2021. The fewest finishers is 15, in 2024.
At the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz became the first driver to record a DNS at Lusail Circuit.
The highest number of drivers to finish on the lead lap at the Qatar Grand Prix is 14, which happened in 2024.
Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to retire on the first lap of a race at Lusail Circuit in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto joined the list of first lap retirees in 2024.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
The title was decided in Max Verstappen’s favour over the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen won the title as a result of the Saturday Sprint race.
In 2023, Max Verstappen became the first driver to win the Qatar Grand Prix and win the Drivers’ Championship in the same season. He repeated the feat in 2024. He was also the first Qatar polesitter to win the title in the same year, doing so in 2023.
The leader of the Drivers’ Championship after the Qatar Grand Prix has never failed to go on to win that year’s title. The team at the top of the Constructors’ Championship after this race has also gone on to win the title in all three years that the event has been held.
The largest points lead held after the Qatar Grand Prix is 209, for Max Verstappen in 2023.