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Valtteri Bottas finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix in the third free practice session. Lewis Hamilton finished in second position with Max Verstappen in third position at the end of the session.

The sixty-minute long third free practice session started under sunny conditions at the Losail International Circuit with air temperatures at 27 degrees C and track temperatures at 38 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C1), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C2), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C3), the hardest compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

The two Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers, Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher were the first drivers on the track. Mazepin missed the entire second free practice session as his chassis was changed.

Mazepin stopped at the end of the pitlane and briefly brought out the red flags as his car was retrieved.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR has been forced to conduct much of its race weekends without practice or qualifying. For 2022, NASCAR will return practices on a more regular basis and revive the concept of knockout qualifying, though in a new style. All Cup, Xfinity, and Camping World Truck Series races will have qualifying; in 2021, only eight such weekends had the session.

How qualifying is conducted will depend on the series and track type, but a recurring theme is splitting the field into groups.

On Cup ovals and road courses, the grid is divided into two groups simply called A and B, with the assignment being determined by the finishing order of the previous week’s race (odd-finishing cars in A, even in B). For ovals, cars will go out on their own and try to set a single fastest lap (two laps at Bristol, Dover, Martinsville, and Richmond), with the top five in each group advancing to the second and final round; the fastest of the ten wins the pole. For road courses, the first round will instead give drivers fifteen minutes to set a best time, while the second is ten minutes long.

Superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega) will not use groups, but the top ten will still move on to the final round. The Bristol Dirt Race will continue to have heat races.

In the Xfinity and Truck Series, superspeedways will use the same format as in Cup. Oval races will also do one-lap qualifying (two for the same tracks as Cup). Road courses alos follow the Cup model.

The Alpine F1 Team had a strong start to the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix, with both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso within thousandths of the top ten, they ended the opening day eleventh and twelfth respectively.

Ocon like the majority of the paddock thoroughly enjoyed his opening day at the Losail International Circuit, the track has appeared to be an instant hit with drivers for it’s first and flowing layout. The Frenchman had a good opening day, being in and around the top ten across both of Friday’s sessions, Ocon was ninth after Free Practice One and then eleventh at the end of Free Practice Two.

All in all a good start to the weekend for Ocon, who is looking forward to qualifying.

“It was a fun Friday discovering this new track. It had some very good surprises for many reasons, so it’s been an enjoyable day. The track was high grip and it was very fast and flowing, which was awesome to drive. It brings challenges of places like Sepang and Istanbul rolled into one and that was really good fun to experience. It’s challenging for all of us to learn a new track, but the team and I prepared very well so we could be ready straight away.

“It’s about getting the car into the right set-up, finding improvements run by run and seeing what ideas on the car to improve. All in all, it’s been a productive one for us today and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in qualifying.”

Scuderia Ferrari had both drivers well off the pace at the end of the opening day of the Qatar Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz Jr ending the first day at the Losail International Circuit in tenth with Charles Leclerc in thirteenth.

Sainz was the fastest of the Prancing Horse’s come the end of the first day at Qatar, with the Spaniard’s first two free practice sessions being about completing as many laps as possible to increase the team’s understanding of the circuit. Sainz ended the opening day almost +0.9s behind leader Valtteri Bottas, however it does appear that Ferrari put a lot of focus into their race set-up.

The Spaniard is one of a number of drivers who are really enjoying the fast and flowing nature of the circuit and is fully expecting to be higher than tenth on Saturday.

“The first day on an unknown track is always exciting and challenging, as it’s obviously a completely new experience. To be honest, I think this track has surprised everyone with how fast it is and the speed we are doing around the corners. That translates into having to work harder on the set-ups we originally had in mind and having to adapt throughout the day.

“We are not exactly where we want to be, so we need to improve the car overnight because the competition is very tight. I have full confidence that we can manage it and hopefully tomorrow we will be further up the order.“

Lance Stroll enjoyed his Friday at the Losail International Circuit, even though his morning session in Qatar was heavily affected by a hydraulics issue that left him stuck in the pits for much of the hour.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver only completed eleven laps in the first session, but he was happy with the progress shown in the afternoon as he racked up twenty-six laps and finished an encouraging sixth fastest.

Stroll says his aim is to break into the top ten in Qualifying on Saturday afternoon, and he believes Aston Martin will also have strong pace when it matters on Sunday.

“The track has a very good flow and that makes it very enjoyable,” said Stroll.  “I had a lot of fun today.

“The hydraulics issue we experienced in FP1 did not cost us too much track time and for the second session the car felt really good. Saturday is another day but I have high hopes for a competitive weekend.

It was a good opening day at the Qatar Grand Prix for championship leader Max Verstappen, who ended the day third fastest and ahead of his championship rival. Team-mate Sergio Pérez was a disappointing eighth at the Losail International Circuit.

It was a strong opening day in Qatar for Verstappen, the Dutchman is one of the eighteen drivers in the paddock who have never raced at the circuit before, leaving much to be learnt. Verstappen got to grips with circuit quickly though, and topped the timesheets after First Free Practice. The Dutchman couldn’t repeat this feat in the evening, eventually ending the day in third place, just ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton who was fourth.

Verstappen thoroughly enjoyed the opening day at Qatar where he found a big difference between the medium and soft tyres.

“I’ve had a lot of fun driving today, I think it’s a really cool track. FP2 was the first time we could test on the track in the evening so it was important to see how the car would react. There was quite a big change between the medium and the soft tyre for me, the soft tyre wasn’t amazing but it’s the first time here so there are a lot of things to understand.

“It’s difficult to say what will happen during the race with these cars, it’s tough to follow but I think over one lap it’s going to be good. Let’s see what happens this weekend, there’s still a lot of things to look at as everything is still so new.”

Lando Norris felt it was a better-than-expected start to the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, with the Briton ending the day with the fifth fastest time at the Losail International Circuit.

The McLaren F1 Team driver started the weekend by placing his MCL35M into tenth place in the morning, but he was on the pace in the afternoon, ending less than half a second down on pacesetter Valtteri Bottas.

And Norris says it was a good start in Qatar, particularly after he and the team anticipated more problems than what actually occurred, and it gives him some encouragement heading into the rest of the weekend.

“A good start to the weekend,” said Norris.  “In a way, more positive than we were expecting, I think because of the type of track layout we have here.

“I think we were anticipating a few more problems and possibly difficulties than we had. I think there are still some weaknesses we’ve got to work on, but on the whole a solid start.

Pierre Gasly was content after an impressive Friday at the Losail International Circuit, with the Frenchman ending second quickest in both free practice sessions.

The Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver was second only to Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in the morning session, and he replicated his position in the afternoon, ending this time just behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Valtteri Bottas.

Although he expects Red Bull and Mercedes to be the teams to beat in Qualifying on Saturday, Gasly hopes to be in the battle for best of the rest, and in particularly he wants to be ahead of the McLaren F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari drivers when it matters.

“It’s been a very good Friday, the best of the season so far I’d say,” said Gasly.  “Inside of the car it doesn’t feel that easy, but the lap times are looking really good. I think in terms of balance we can do even better for tomorrow, so we’ll try and work on that tonight.

“Our target is of course to be as far up the grid as possible but we’re obviously realistic, we’re looking very competitive at the moment, so we’ll hope to be up there with McLaren and Ferrari again in Quali.”

Valtteri Bottas began the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix in perfect fashion, ending the opening day top of the timesheets, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton in fourth after a difficult day in Qatar.

It was a strong opening day in the desert for Bottas, the Finnish driver was third at the Losail International Circuit after the opening session of the day, before flying to the top of timesheet in Free Practice Two. The second practice session took place at the same time in which both Qualifying and the Race will be taking place, under the floodlights.

This puts Bottas in a good position going into the important part of the weekend, where he seems to have his Mercedes set-up almost perfectly for race conditions. The Finnish driver is happy with how his weekend has started.

“We’ve started the weekend pretty well with the set-up. The balance felt good, so I only made a few minor tweaks for FP2. That’s an encouraging way to start the weekend at a new track, the team did a really good job with their pre-weekend preparations.

“It’s not far off the sweet spot, obviously there’s always work to do and improvements to find and even with driving, you can’t find all the speed available in just two sessions. We’ll keep on working. It’s hard to draw conclusions from today, practice is practice, but the feeling is okay and that’s promising for the rest of the weekend.”

The FIA have rejected the right to review brought up by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team over the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the São Paulo Grand Prix last weekend.

Mercedes felt there was evidence that had not been used during the race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace when Verstappen and Hamilton went side-by-side into turn four on lap forty-eight. 

Verstappen’s front-facing camera that would have shown the steering input from the Red Bull Racing driver was not available when stewards deemed no action was necessary as both drivers ran off track.

However, the FIA felt that the camera view did not offer any more information than they already had about the incident, and they rejected Mercedes’ request, meaning Verstappen will escape without being penalised.

“The Stewards often must make a decision quickly and on a limited set of information,” said the FIA statement.  “At the time of the decision, the Stewards felt they had sufficient information to make a decision, which subsequently broadly aligned with the immediate post‐race comments of both drivers involved.

Valtteri Bottas finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix in the second free practice session. Pierre Gasly finished in second position for the second session in a row.

Max Verstappen was in third position just ahead of title-rival Lewis Hamilton at the end of the second practice session.

The sixty-minute long second free practice session started under the lights at the Losail International Circuit with air temperatures at 26 degrees C and track temperatures at 30 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C1), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C2), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C3), the hardest compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

The two Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers went out on the medium compound tyres, as did most of the drivers who followed.

Max Verstappen finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix in the first free practice session. Pierre Gasly was in second position and Valtteri Bottas was in third position at the end of the first practice session

In a season of intense battles for both championships, Formula 1 has arrived at the twentieth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at a brand new circuit to add to the variables.

The Losail International Circuit with a lot of high-speed corners at this newly added race has been driven by most of the drivers in the simulator only.

Only Sergio Pérez and Nikita Mazepin have previously driven at this circuit in other motorsport categories.

The sixty-minute long first free practice session started under warm conditions with air temperatures at 29 degrees C and track temperatures at 43 degrees C. The dust particles and sand is also a factor at this venue.

Joey Gase is now a JGR driver. Sort of.

While the “JGR” abbreviation is synonymous with NASCAR powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, Gase has actually started his own team with his initials: Joey Gase Racing. On Thursday, he announced he will drive the #35 Chevrolet Camaro full-time for his operation in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022.

“I am extremely excited to start a new chapter in my career and life,” said Gase. “To not only be a driver, but also a team owner, this is something I have been thinking about a lot the last few years. When I asked other team owners and mentors I expected to get a lot of push back saying not to, but to my surprise I got a lot of the opposite.

“I have learned a lot the past 10 years and have worked with a lot of great people from Jimmy Means (owner of Jimmy Means Racing), Bobby Dotter (SS-Green Light Racing), Carl Long (MBM Motorsports), Archie St. Hilaire (Go Fas Racing) and Rick Ware (Rick Ware Racing). They have all taught me a ton and have helped me every step of the way. It is not going to be easy by any means but I have a big support team behind me with my family and friends.”

Gase competed full-time in the Xfinity Series from 2014 to 2019, scoring three top tens and a career-best fifth at Talladega in 2015. He moved up to the Cup Series in 2020 on a regular basis, though he declared for Xfinity points. In 2021, he ran sixteen Cup races for Ware and five at the Xfinity level with SS-Green Light and Means. Much of his Xfinity career was spent with Means.

In what has already been an eventful week for the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team, with the announcement that Guanyu Zhou will be replacing Antonio Giovinazzi for next season, the team must now refocus as they prepare for the first ever Qatar Grand Prix.

Amazingly, two of the last three races in Kimi Räikkönen’s Formula One career will take place at tracks the 2007 World Champion has never raced at. The Finnish driver is interested by the fact he will be visiting two new venues across the next couple weeks, with this weekend’s race taking place at the Losail International Circuit.

Räikkönen is all too familiar with getting to grips with a new circuit for the sport, meaning that all his years of experience will be vital in Qatar.

“I am approaching the last three races of my career and to race in two completely new tracks is quite interesting: it sure adds a bit of variety and keeps things fresh. The track looks fairly straightforward, with a long straight, a good overtaking spot at the end of it and a twisty middle part in which passing will be hard. It will be all about setting yourself up in the best position to attack on the finish straight, but that’s as much as we can tell now.

“Practice will be important to find out what the grip is and how the tyres work, especially as we expect the surface to be dusty at first. We showed some good pace in the last few races, so hopefully we can get on top of the track quickly and have a good result.”

The Alpine F1 Team venture into the brand new for Formula One, Qatar Grand Prix, with a potential advantage, with Racing Director Davide Brivio having been to the circuit a number of times whilst with the Suzuki MotoGP team.

Fernando Alonso has a strong record when racing in the Middle East, the two-time world champion has won the Bahrain Grand Prix three times and has stepped foot on the podium five times in the Middle East, could he add to this at the Losail International Circuit?

The Spaniard has spoken to Brivio heading into this weekend in what could be a key advantage for the team.

“I always enjoy racing in the Middle East. Losail is a track we don’t know that well, but it’s been on the MotoGP calendar for many years, so we’re open minded heading there. I’ve chatted with Davide Brivio about the circuit to see what he had to say as he has the most experience there in the whole team.

“We race in quite a few circuits there and the facilities are good, and you’re usually guaranteed nice weather. We’ve had a look at the track on simulators and onboards and it does look fast with a nice flow to it. It’ll be interesting to see how a Formula 1 car behaves around the circuit compared to a motorcycle.”