Lusail International Circuit

Lusail International Circuit
Grand Prix Circuit (2023–present)
LocationLusail, Al Daayen, Qatar
Time zoneUTC+03:00
Coordinates25°29′24″N 51°27′15″E / 25.49000°N 51.45417°E / 25.49000; 51.45417
Capacity52,000
FIA Grade1
Broke ground2003
Opened30 September 2004 (2004-09-30)
Construction costUS$58 million
Major eventsCurrent:
Formula One
Qatar Grand Prix (2021, 2023–present)
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
(2004–present)
Doha motorcycle Grand Prix (2021)
FIA World Endurance Championship
Qatar 1812 km (2024–present)
Former:
World SBK
(2005–2009, 2014–2019)
WTCC Race of Qatar
(2015–2017)
Motocross World Championship (2013–2017)
FIM EWC 8 Hours of Doha
(2007–2012)
GP2 Asia (2009)
Websitehttps://www.circuitlosail.com/
Grand Prix Circuit (2023–present)
Length5.419 km (3.367 miles)
Turns16
Race lap record1:22.384 (United Kingdom Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, 2024, F1)
Short Circuit (2023–present)
Length3.701 km (2.300 miles)
Turns11
Club Circuit (2023–present)
Length2.446 km (1.520 miles)
Turns12
Original Grand Prix Circuit (2004–2022)
Length5.380 km (3.343 miles)
Turns16
Race lap record1:23.196 (Netherlands Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, 2021, F1)
2016 FIA WTCC Race of Qatar
View from the grandstand

The Lusail International Circuit (Arabic: حلبة لوسيل الدولية, sometimes rendered Losail International Circuit) is a motor racing circuit located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar. The track is 5.419 km (3.367 mi) in length, with a main straight of 1.068 km (0.664 mi). It is surrounded by artificial grass intended to stop the sand encroaching on the track.

History

Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers at the cost of US$58 million, the track opened in 2004 and hosted the inaugural Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix in the same year, won by Sete Gibernau.[1] In 2007, Lusail added permanent outdoor lighting for night races. At the time, the lighting of the Lusail Circuit by Musco Lighting was the largest permanent venue sports lighting project in the world, a distinction that now belongs to another Persian Gulf motorsport venue, Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The first night race in MotoGP history was the 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix in March 2008.[2]

In February 2009, a GP2 Asia Series nighttime race took place. The World SBK visited Lusail in 2005–2009 and 2014–2019; and the WTCC visited there in 2015–2017.

The circuit hosted the 20th race of the 2021 Formula One season, the inaugural edition of the Qatar Grand Prix.[3] Before the second edition of the Grand Prix,[4] the circuit was renovated, the facilities upgraded, and the capacity was increased from 8,000 to 52,000.[5]

Beginning in 2024, the FIA World Endurance Championship is set to host its season opener at Lusail, the Qatar 1812 km, in addition to the Prologue, the championship's pre-season testing sessions.[6]

Layout history

Lusail International Circuit layout history
  • Original Grand Prix Circuit (2004–2022)
    Original Grand Prix Circuit (2004–2022)
  • Grand Prix Circuit (2023–present)
    Grand Prix Circuit (2023–present)

Events

Current

Former

Lap records

The official lap record for the current circuit layout is 1:22.384, set by Lando Norris driving for McLaren in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. As of April 2025, the fastest official race lap records at the Lusail International Circuit are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Grand Prix Circuit: 5.419 km (2023–present)
Formula One 1:22.384[7] Lando Norris McLaren MCL38 2024 Qatar Grand Prix
FIA F2 1:37.997[8] Oliver Bearman Dallara F2 2024 2024 Lusail Formula 2 round
LMDh 1:39.748[9] Matt Campbell Porsche 963 2024 Qatar 1812 km
LMH 1:41.259[10] Alessandro Pier Guidi Ferrari 499P 2025 Qatar 1812 km
Formula Regional 1:50.541[11] Nikita Bedrin Tatuus F3 T-318 2025 Lusail Formula Regional Middle East round
MotoGP 1:52.561[12] Marc Márquez Ducati Desmosedici GP25 2025 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
GT3 1:53.529[9] Alessio Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 2024 Qatar 1812 km
Formula 4 1:54.996[13] Doriane Pin Tatuus F4-T421 2024 Lusail F1 Academy round
Moto2 1:57.366 Sam Lowes Kalex Moto2 2023 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Porsche Carrera Cup 1:59.347[14] Janne Stiak Porsche 911 (992) GT3 Cup 2024 Lusail Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East round
Moto3 2:03.135 Tatsuki Suzuki Husqvarna FR250GP 2024 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Touring car racing 2:19.449[15] Abdulla Ali Alkhelaifi Honda S2000 2024 1st Qatar Touring Car Championship round
Original Grand Prix Circuit: 5.380 km (2004–2022)
Formula One 1:23.196[16] Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB16B 2021 Qatar Grand Prix
GP2 Asia 1:38.699[17] Davide Rigon Dallara GP2/05 2009 Qatar GP2 Asia Series round
GP Masters 1:49.116[18] Pierluigi Martini Delta Motorsport GP Masters car 2006 Losail Grand Prix Masters
MotoGP 1:54.338 Enea Bastianini Ducati Desmosedici GP21 2022 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
World SBK 1:56.687[19] Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR 2019 Lusail World SBK round
Moto2 1:58.711 Thomas Lüthi Kalex Moto2 2019 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
250cc 1:59.379 Alex Debón Aprilia RSV 250 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
MRF Challenge 1:59.519[20] Toby Sowery Dallara Formulino Pro 2014 Lusail MRF Challenge round
Porsche Carrera Cup 2:00.322[21] Clemens Schmid Porsche 911 (991 I) GT3 Cup 2015 2nd Lusail Porsche GT3 Middle East Championship round
TC1 2:01.628[22] José María López Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 2015 FIA WTCC Race of Qatar
World SSP 2:01.832[23] Kenan Sofuoğlu Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 2017 Lusail World SSP round
Stock car racing 2:04.508[24] Vitantonio Liuzzi Speedcar V8 2009 Lusail Speedcar Series round
Moto3 2:05.403 Romano Fenati Honda NSF250RW 2019 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
125cc 2:05.695 Scott Redding Aprilia RS125R 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Supersport 300 2:13.798[25] Ana Carrasco Kawasaki Ninja 400 2019 Lusail Supersport 300 round
Asia Productions 250 2:24.177[26] Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin Yamaha YZF-R25 2015 Lusail ARRC round
Asia Underbone 130 2:31.934[27] Ferlando Herdian Yamaha T-150 2014 Lusail ARRC round

Racing history

Since 2008, MotoGP class has run under lights at Losail

Formula One

Year Winning driver Winning team
2021 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes
2023 Netherlands Max Verstappen Austria Red Bull Racing
2024 Netherlands Max Verstappen Austria Red Bull Racing

MotoGP

Year MotoGP 250cc/Moto2 125cc/Moto3
2004 Spain Sete Gibernau Argentina Sebastián Porto Spain Jorge Lorenzo
2005 Italy Valentino Rossi Australia Casey Stoner Hungary Gábor Talmácsi
2006 Italy Valentino Rossi Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Álvaro Bautista
2007 Australia Casey Stoner Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Héctor Faubel
2008 Australia Casey Stoner Italy Mattia Pasini Spain Sergio Gadea
2009 Australia Casey Stoner Spain Héctor Barberá Italy Andrea Iannone
2010 Italy Valentino Rossi Japan Shoya Tomizawa Spain Nicolás Terol
2011 Australia Casey Stoner Germany Stefan Bradl Spain Nicolás Terol
2012 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Marc Márquez Spain Maverick Viñales
2013 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Pol Espargaró Spain Luis Salom
2014 Spain Marc Márquez Spain Esteve Rabat Australia Jack Miller
2015 Italy Valentino Rossi Germany Jonas Folger France Alexis Masbou
2016 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Switzerland Thomas Lüthi Italy Niccolò Antonelli
2017 Spain Maverick Viñales Italy Franco Morbidelli Spain Joan Mir
2018 Italy Andrea Dovizioso Italy Francesco Bagnaia Spain Jorge Martín
2019 Italy Andrea Dovizioso Italy Lorenzo Baldassarri Japan Kaito Toba
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns Japan Tetsuta Nagashima Spain Albert Arenas
2021 Qatar Spain Maverick Viñales United Kingdom Sam Lowes Spain Jaume Masià
2021 Doha France Fabio Quartararo United Kingdom Sam Lowes Spain Pedro Acosta
2022 Italy Enea Bastianini Italy Celestino Vietti Italy Andrea Migno
2023 Italy Fabio Di Giannantonio Spain Fermín Aldeguer Spain Jaume Masià
2024 Italy Francesco Bagnaia Spain Alonso López Colombia David Alonso
2025 Spain Marc Márquez Spain Arón Canet Spain Ángel Piqueras

FIA World Endurance Championship

Year Hypercar Winners LMGT3 Winners
2024 Germany No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Lithuania No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing
France Kévin Estre
Germany André Lotterer
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor 		Saint Kitts and Nevis Alex Malykhin
Germany Joel Sturm
Austria Klaus Bachler
2025 Italy No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse United Kingdom No. 33 TF Sport
Italy Antonio Fuoco
Spain Miguel Molina
Denmark Nicklas Nielsen 		United Kingdom Jonny Edgar
Spain Daniel Juncadella
United States Ben Keating

Superbike World Championship

Year Race Winning rider Winning team
2005 Race 1 Australia Troy Corser Alstare Suzuki
Race 2 Japan Yukio Kagayama Alstare Suzuki
2006 Race 1 United Kingdom James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda
Race 2 Australia Troy Corser Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
2007 Race 1 Italy Max Biaggi Alstare Suzuki
Race 2 United Kingdom James Toseland Ten Kate Honda
2008 Race 1 Australia Troy Bayliss Ducati Xerox Team
Race 2 Spain Fonsi Nieto Team Alstare Suzuki
2009 Race 1 United States Ben Spies Yamaha WSB
Race 2 United States Ben Spies Yamaha WSB
2014 Race 1 France Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia Racing Team
Race 2 France Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia Racing Team
2015 Race 1 Spain Jordi Torres Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
Race 2 United Kingdom Leon Haslam Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
2016 Race 1 United Kingdom Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
Race 2 United Kingdom Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
2017 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team
Race 2 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team
2018 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Race 2 Race cancelled
2019 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
SR United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Race 2 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
2020 Race cancelled

World Touring Car Championship

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2015 Race 1 Argentina José María López France Citroën Total WTCC
Race 2 France Yvan Muller France Citroën Total WTCC
2016 Race 1 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Russia Lada Sport Rosneft
Race 2 Morocco Mehdi Bennani France Sébastien Loeb Racing
2017 Race 1 United Kingdom Tom Chilton France Sébastien Loeb Racing
Race 2 Argentina Esteban Guerrieri Japan Honda Racing Team JAS

FIM Endurance World Championship

Year Manufacturer Winning team Winning riders
2007 Japan Suzuki France Suzuki Endurance Racing Team France Vincent Philippe
France Matthieu Lagrive
2008 Japan Yamaha Austria Yamaha Austria Racing Team Slovenia Igor Jerman
Australia Steve Martin
United Kingdom Steve Plater
2009 Japan Yamaha Austria Yamaha Austria Racing Team Slovenia Igor Jerman
Australia Steve Martin
France Gwen Giabbani
2010 Japan Suzuki France Suzuki Endurance Racing Team France Vincent Philippe
France Sylvain Guintoli
France Freddy Foray
2011 Japan Yamaha France GMT94 Spain David Checa
France Kenny Foray
France Matthieu Lagrive
2012 Germany BMW Austria BMW Motorrad France Thevent France Sebastien Gimbert
Australia Damian Cudlin
France Erwan Nigon

Motocross World Championship

Year Race MX1 MX2
2013 Race 1 Belgium Clément Desalle Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Race 2 Italy Tony Cairoli Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Year Race MXGP MX2 WMX
2014 Race 1 Germany Maximilian Nagl France Dylan Ferrandis
Race 2 France Gautier Paulin Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
2015 Race 1 Germany Maximilian Nagl Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Race 2 Germany Maximilian Nagl Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
2016 Race 1 Slovenia Tim Gajser Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings New Zealand Courtney Duncan
Race 2 Slovenia Tim Gajser Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings New Zealand Courtney Duncan
2017 Race 1 Italy Tony Cairoli Latvia Pauls Jonass
Race 2 Italy Tony Cairoli Latvia Pauls Jonass

Speedcar Series

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2009 Race 1 Italy Gianni Morbidelli United States Palm Beach
Race 2 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi United Arab Emirates Union Properties

GP2 Asia

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2009 Race 1 Germany Nico Hülkenberg France ART Grand Prix
Race 2 Mexico Sergio Pérez Spain Barwa International Campos

References

  1. ^ "Losail International Circuit". RacingCircuits.info. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Lusail International Circuit". MotoGP. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ^ "F1 to hold first Qatar Grand Prix at Losail this November". Motor Sport Magazine. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023".
  5. ^ Horton, Phillip (30 May 2023). "Qatar GP organisers reveal Lusail renovations". motorsportweek.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  6. ^ Tribune, Qatar (11 June 2023). "'Qatar 1812' unveiled as name for 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship race". Qatar Tribune. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Qatar Grand Prix 2024". Formula1.com. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  8. ^ "2024 F2 Lusail Feature Race 2 Statistics". 1 December 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b "FIA WEC 2024 - Qatar 1812 KM - Race - Final Classification by Driver Fastest Lap" (PDF). FIA. 3 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  10. ^ "FIA WEC 2025 - Qatar 1812 KM - Race - Provisional Classification by Driver Fastest Lap" (PDF). FIA. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  11. ^ "2025 FR Middle East Championship - Qatar 1812 KM - Race 1 (28 Minutes +1 Lap) - Final Classification" (PDF). FIA. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  12. ^ "All-Time MotoGP Records | Fastest Laps, Champions, and Milestones". The Official Home of MotoGP. MotoGP. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  13. ^ "2024 F1 Academy Qatar Race 1 Statistics". 30 November 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024 - Lusail - Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East - Race 1 Final Classification after 6 Laps - 32.242 km" (PDF). 30 November 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  15. ^ "2024 Qatar Touring Car Championship - Qatar 1812 KM - Race 2 (10 Laps / Max. 35 Minutes) - Final Classification" (PDF). FIA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Qatar Grand Prix 2021". Formula1.com. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Lusail International Circuit, Qatar 2009 – GP2 Asia results". autoevolution.com. 13 February 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011.
  18. ^ "2006 Losail Grand Prix Masters". Motor Sport Magazine. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  19. ^ "World Superbike - Motul Qatar Round, 24-26 October 2019 - Results Tissot Superpole Race" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Qatar Superbike1-QCH1-MRF Challenge - 17th Friday October - QSBK-1 QCH-1-MRF Challenge – MRF Challenge Race-2". 17 October 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  21. ^ "QCH R5-Porsche G3 CUP-Radical Car - Feb.6,2015 - QCH4-GT3 Cup-Radical Car – GT3 Cup Race 2". 6 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  22. ^ "WTCC 2015 » Losail International Circuit Round 23 Results". 27 November 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  23. ^ "World Supersport – Qatar Round, 2-3-4 November 2017 - Results Race" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  24. ^ "2009 Losail Speedcar – Round 5". Motor Sport Magazine. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  25. ^ "World SSP - Motul Qatar Round, 24-26 October 2019 - Race Results" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  26. ^ "Asia Road Racing Championship - Saturday 3rd October 2015 - Asian Production 250 CC - Race 2 - Race (9 Laps) started at 21:30:53". 3 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  27. ^ "2014 Asia Road Racing Championship Round 6 - Losail International Circuit, Qatar - December 14, 2014 - Underbone 130cc - Race 1" (PDF). 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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