Several Formula 1 drivers have criticized this year’s Qatar Grand Prix, deeming it too dangerous due to extreme heat that led to alarming incidents. George Russell and Lando Norris voiced their concerns, with many drivers feeling nauseous and on the brink of passing out.
During the 57-lap race in Lusail, the cockpit temperatures soared above 50 degrees Celsius, lasting one hour and 28 minutes. Canadian driver Lance Stroll disclosed that he experienced lapses in consciousness due to the extreme heat and humidity. He was also seen stumbling towards an ambulance after exiting his Aston Martin.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon vomited inside his helmet during the race, while Alex Albon required treatment for acute heat exposure at the on-track medical center. Albon’s teammate, Logan Sargeant, had to retire due to “intense dehydration.”
George Russell, who serves as the director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, revealed that he came close to blacking out after recovering from a first-corner crash with Lewis Hamilton and driving from last to fourth. Russell described the race conditions as “beyond the limit of what is acceptable” and stated that over 50 percent of the grid reported feeling sick and close to passing out.
“Today was beyond the limit of what is acceptable”
“Over 50 per cent of the grid said they were feeling sick, couldn’t drive and were close to passing out.”
“You don’t want to be passing out at the wheel when you are driving at 200mph, and that is how I felt at times.”
“If it got any hotter I would have retired because my body was ready to give up”
Russell compared the experience to driving in a “sauna” after just 20 laps of the 57-lap race.
This year marked only the second edition of the Qatar Grand Prix, which was first raced in 2021 before taking a hiatus in 2022 due to its clash with the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which was shifted to the winter to avoid the scorching heat.
In 2021, Lewis Hamilton wore a rainbow helmet to draw attention to human rights issues and laws affecting LGBTQ+ communities in the country. Hamilton has been vocal about these issues at other Grand Prix events in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, acknowledging that Qatar is making efforts to improve the situation.
The 2023 race was part of a 10-year deal, one of the most lucrative for Liberty Media, the sport’s American owners, worth approximately £45 million per season. Next year’s edition is scheduled for December, expecting cooler temperatures.
Lando Norris, who finished third in the race, remarked that the drivers had pushed the limits to an alarming extent and that the situation should not have occurred. He emphasized that it was not merely a matter of drivers needing more training, as they were enclosed in a hot car, making it excessively dangerous.
“It is never a nice situation to be in when people are ending up in the medical centre or passing out.
“It is not a point where you can just say, ‘the drivers need to train more’. We are in a closed car and it gets extremely hot.
“Clearly, when you have people who end up retiring or in such a bad state it is too much. It is too dangerous.
“I know that next year this race is later on in the season, and it will be cooler, but it is still something that needs to be addressed. I am sure we will speak about it because it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
The demanding nature of the track and the multiple pit stops during the race already challenged the drivers, and Esteban Ocon described his seventh-place finish as “the hardest-fought points” of his career. Ocon shared how he vomited for two laps during the race due to the extreme heat inside the car.
“I’ve never had that in the past.”
“I’ve always been able to do two race distances in the car, that’s always what I’m training for but today, it’s just the hot air and how hot the engine is from behind the car.”
“I don’t think we particularly see in the cockpit too well, so it must have been like 80 degrees inside the car today. I’m glad that next year we come back in December.”
“I felt to a point that in the straight line I was trying to catch some air with my hands to try and guide it to the helmet, because the more I was breathing to try and just get back better into the corners, the more hot it was in the helmet.”
“It was honestly horrible but, yeah, hardest ever fought points on my side, but glad that we maximised the result and P7 is a very good result for us today.”
Dehydration is a significant concern for drivers, as they can lose up to three liters of liquid and shed up to three kilograms of body weight even in milder temperatures.
Max Verstappen, the winner of the race, expressed his dread of participating in the event in October due to the extreme heat and humidity. He mentioned that the extreme conditions were not solely about fitness and that the race was pushing the limits of what should be allowed.
‘When I saw the weather before coming here, I was not looking forward to it,’ the Dutchman shared in the press conference after his victory. ‘It’s just too warm and, like Lando said, it has nothing to do with more training or whatever.”
“I think some of the guys who are struggling today, they are extremely fit, probably even fitter than me!”
“But yeah, it’s just the whole day. It’s like you walk around in a sauna and also then in the night, the humidity goes up.”
“The races are quite long. But it’s not the only place, there are a few places like that. Singapore is almost a two-hour race and it’s very, very warm. I think it’s also quite on the limit of what should be allowed. So there are a few things to look at but this was definitely way too hot.”
In October, the average temperature in Qatar is around 30 degrees Celsius, compared to 20 degrees in December when the race will be held next year. Drivers will head to Austin, Texas, for the United States Grand Prix in the next race weekend, where they can expect comparatively cooler conditions.
