Why have F1’s rules changed for Qatar GP?

There'll be plenty of opportunities for F1 pit crews to have an impact on the outcome of the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend, with a new rule making its way onto the books.

As you may have read (on these pages, no less!), teams are being told that they must make at least two pit stops over the course of Sunday's race.

Unlike the tweak to the Monaco Grand Prix this year, however, this isn't just an arbitrary rule being introduced to try and spice up the on-track action. This is, in fact, a safety issue.

The high-speed track in Lusail is notoriously hard on tyres, with Pirelli bringing their three hardest compounds to the weekend – the C1 (hard), C2 (medium) and C3 (soft).

The rule, however, isn't as simple as 'teams must pit twice'. Instead, each set of tyres is restricted to a total of 25 laps of running over the course of the weekend – opening up some intriguing strategy choices.

How will F1 tyre rule impact Qatar Grand Prix?

Sky Sports' Bernie Collins explained: "Qatar is a high-speed circuit that puts a lot of loads in the tyres. In 2023 we had quite aggressive peaks in the kerbs that were actually cutting the sidewalls of the tyres, which is obviously very dangerous due to the high-speed nature of the track and the loads the tyres are under.

"With the very hot conditions and the aggressive kerbs two years ago, they did enforce a structured tyre life of 18 laps, which was more restrictive than what we now have for this year.

"Those kerbs were reprofiled before last year's race, so that is no longer an issue. However, last year we had much cooler conditions in Qatar than we expected and that allowed teams to complete a one-stop strategy because there was very little tyre degradation. That, combined with quite a long pit-loss time, pushed people to complete a one-stop strategy and saw some tyres reach maximum wear level.

"The outer surface had basically worn away and you are on the construction of the tyre. Combined with the potential for the cuttings on the kerb when the tyre is very thin, that is what Pirelli are worried about.

"So wearing it to that very thin level, if you get a cut then it's very dangerous, so that's why they have brought in this limit of 25 laps based on the 35 laps that they had seen people complete last year."

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