Why is the Qatar GP a mandatory two-stop race?

This weekend's Qatar Grand Prix marks the penultimate race weekend of the 2025 season, where the Lusail International Circuit will host both a sprint race and full-length grand prix.

With two races and more competitive sessions than the average race weekend, it will not be one to miss, and on top of that, championship leader Lando Norris could wrap up the title in Qatar as well.

Tyre strategy will be a popular topic of debate ahead of the Qatar GP and could play a part in deciding whether Norris takes the crown at Lusail or if the battle goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, but there's another twist teams must take into account.

This year's Qatar GP will see the return of the mandatory two-stop race.

In 2023, Pirelli enforced an 18-lap stint length for tyres in an attempt to offset concerns about tyre damage during the grand prix.

This restriction was abandoned for last year's race but the event saw the issue of tyre wear return, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton just one driver who suffered from a puncture.

And after concerns had been flagged yet again following analysis of last year's data, F1's tyre provider have reintroduced the tyre mandate.

What have Pirelli said about two-stop Qatar GP?

Along with F1 and the FIA, Pirelli have agreed that at this year's Qatar GP, tyres must only be used for a maximum of 25 laps, and given that Sunday's event is a 57-lap race, all teams will have to change tyres at least twice.

This is not the first time this season that F1 teams and drivers have had to manipulate tyre strategy to meet a two-stop requirement.

The Monaco GP was made a mandatory two-stopper in hope of increasing on-track action, a move which prompted plenty of criticism.

The restriction has been imposed for the Qatar GP for different reasons, where formation laps, laps to the grid and those completed after the chequered flag in the sprint and the grand prix will not be included in the count.

Ahead of this weekend’s race, Pirelli put out a statement confirming the decision which read: "Every set of tyres supplied to the teams at the start of the race weekend can cover a maximum of 25 laps of the Lusail track, which is very demanding on tyres in terms of energy, thermal stress and wear. The laps will be counted cumulatively across all track session, including laps run under the safety car or virtual safety car.”

"This measure has been deemed necessary, following analysis of the tyres used in 2024.

"Last year, several tyres, particularly the left front, had reached the maximum wear level. These conditions, combined with the high lateral energy had increased the structural fatigue of the construction.”

F1 HEADLINES: Lando Norris 'embarrassed' as Red Bull 'laugh' at McLaren team orders

Related