F1 News
Done deal? Will we get a race in Qatar instead of Australia?
- GPblog.com
The Middle East is starting to manifest itself more and more as a Formula 1 region. This year races have already been held at tracks in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and the Formula 1 tests are now also being held in Bahrain.
Exit Albert Park
According to Joe Saward, a deal has already been struck, as he says on his blog: "The word in the Middle East is that a deal has been struck for a Formula One race in the latter part of this season at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The news is yet to be officially confirmed."
Saward notes that Qatar may take the place of Australia on the calendar. Albert Park hasn't been raced in several years since the pandemic and is not expected to be for 2022 either, although that's not the main reason to replace the race down under with Qatar. The Middle East also seems more lucrative for F1 when it comes to the money to be made from the race.
COVID
The only thing standing in the way of a deal are the current corona rules in Britain: "At the moment Qatar and Abu Dhabi are both on Britain's red list. Saudi Arabia is not. This means that the best course of action would be to host the race in Jeddah last so that most of the 10 days after leaving a red list country would be spent in Saudi Arabia, which is on the orange list."