Qatar still planning to join F1 calendar

McLaren

Qatar is still pushing ahead with plans to join the formula one calendar.

The Losail circuit already hosts a MotoGP night race, and earlier this year it emerged that modifications were taking place with the aim of also accommodating F1.

Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, president of Qatar’s Motor and Motorcycling Federation, said: “Hosting a formula one race is definitely in the strategic plan for Qatar.”

He said an FIA official has already inspected the circuit and was “impressed” with the work carried out.

“We have a great track and we are currently working on upgrading it to official (F1) specifications,” he told Gulf Weekly.

“We have already covered the standard requirements and we are three quarters through the project. We just have some minor changes and modifications to make.”

F1 already has Middle Eastern races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

A spokesman for Bernie Ecclestone said the F1 chief executive’s office is awaiting details of Qatar’s proposal.

0 comments

Other articlesgo to homepage

	Backer says no doubts about 2012 Austin GP(0) The key backer of the scheduled 2012 US grand prix insists he remains committed to the Circuit of the Americas project. Construction in Austin, Texas, has continued amid raging local media speculation, as lawsuits are pending and questions are constantly asked about the viability of the project commenced by the now offside promoter Tavo Hellmund.

	Student protests threaten 2012 Canada GP(0) Angry students could threaten next month’s Canadian grand prix. Protests in Montreal, regarding planned university tuition fee increases, have been turning increasingly ugly and even violent, involving the throwing of glass bottles and hundreds of arrests. According to the French language La Presse newspaper, at least one student association has specifically threatened to disrupt the

	F1′s sixth winner shapes up for Monaco(0) F1′s next winner could be at the wheel of a black and gold car. “I think Kimi (Raikkonen) will be the sixth different winner in the sixth race,” said Finnish commentator and former driver Mika Salo, to the MTV3 broadcaster. Although the results in 2012 have proved impossible to predict so far, many paddock pundits

	Spain, Spa, France, Canada and Russia – race rumours(0) Valencia will not be on next year’s F1 calendar, Bernie Ecclestone said on Saturday. He confirmed that, starting in 2013, an annually alternating deal between the Spanish port city and Barcelona will begin. Barcelona, the scene of this weekend’s Spanish grand prix, will host the race in 2013, before Valencia returns to the schedule in

	Montreal must improve track or lose F1 race(0) Montreal has been warned to spend around $15 million on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or risk losing the Canadian grand prix. La Presse reports that Bernie Ecclestone has said only a major redevelopment of the circuit will lead to talks about a new contract beyond 2014. The report said that, in light of the F1