Why F1’s cars are now “hanging on” as Qatar’s lap time tumbles by 3.4 seconds

Formula 1 drivers are used to going quick, but even they have been a bit taken aback by just how fast things have been in Qatar this weekend.

Indeed, as Lando Norris jumped out of his McLaren after snatching pole for the sprint race on Friday evening, he was wide-eyed about the challenges faced in staying committed through some of Losail’s speedier sections.

“It’s so quick around here,” he said. “It feels like the quickest circuit of the year. I mean, the final sector feels like you’re just hanging on.”

It is not just a feeling the drivers have though, because the pure numbers tell us everything we need to know about how much of a leap has been made in pace terms since last year.

While we perhaps have not seen the full potential of the cars yet, as that will only come in final qualifying on Saturday night, we can make a comparison between the two sprint shootout sessions we have had across last year’s and this weekend’s event.

In 2023, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took the sprint pole position with a lap time of 1m24.454 seconds. In comparison, Norris’ best effort on Friday here was 1m21.012 seconds – which is a leap forward of 3.442 seconds.

Such dramatic gains normally come when circuits change configuration or adjust the profiling of some corners.

However, Qatar’s layout is identical with the only changes being to the shaving of some kerbs and the addition of some gravel strips – which could perhaps be argued should make things slower because there is now a much bigger deterrent to running wide.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

So why are the speeds so much faster then?

There is no single explanation for it, but it appears that a host of factors have come into play that combine to make the difference.

Pirelli F1 chief engineer Simone Berra sees a better surface after a year of weathering in, and lower temperatures, as critical to what has happened.

“It was honestly very impressive, and in part, was expected,” he said about the huge drop in the times. “We simulated a 1m21.7s so we were not really far from that, but they were even faster.

“It is probably due to track conditions, which are much better compared to last year. The grip level is much higher.

“We also have F2 and F1 Academy and the Porsche running together with us this year, so obviously this…