Yuki

“From FP2 onwards in Vegas we improved our understanding of how to run the car, which will hopefully continue this weekend. I’m optimistic that we can have another strong race, despite going from a track with long high speed straights and 90 degree turns to one with fast flowing corners. Last year’s very hot conditions in Qatar did not affect me too badly, but with the race a month later this time, the weather seems much nicer. Last year, all drivers were only allowed to do a maximum of 18 laps on a set of tyres because of an issue with the kerbs, but that’s been sorted now, so in terms of race strategy, we start with a clean sheet. There's only one hour of practice before Sprint quali, so I'm going to be focused on performance so that we can continue to fight for 6th place in the Constructors'.“

Liam

"Qatar is a very tough track that was probably the hardest race I did last year. The temperature last year was pretty warm, so hopefully it will be cooler this year. It’s also very high speed, which I’m looking forward to. It’s a sprint weekend, which makes it challenging; we need to be pushing quite hard, quite early to make sure we’re in a good window for SQ. It’s a weekend where we need to score some points to be in for the fight for P6, so we’ll be making sure we maximise the car as much as we can.”

Qatar is very high speed, which I’m looking forward to.

Liam Lawson

AlanPermane(RacingDirector)

“The penultimate race of the 2024 season brings us to the Lusail International Circuit in Doha. In 2023 this race was an extremely tough physical test for the drivers due to the unusually high ambient temperature and humidity. This year, things should be relatively easier with temperatures forecast to be around 20 deg C for the start of the race on Sunday. The circuit is a real test of both driver and car, with high speed kerbing being the biggest challenge. Without any significant low speed corners, the car setup is likely to be on the stiff side of the season to keep maximum aero load, especially during the long high speed sequence of turns 12, 13 and 14. Due to these demands, Pirelli will bring tyres at the hardest end of the 2024 compound range. It’s the final sprint weekend of the season, so just one hour of running for the drivers and engineers to tune the setup before Sprint Qualifying on Friday evening.”