‘Insane’ heat at Qatar Grand Prix puts F1 driver safety in spotlight

A host of F1 stars described the Qatar Grand Prix as the toughest race of their careers as drivers battled extreme heat that led to one “passing out” during the race.

George Russell said the heat in Qatar was “insane”. Picture: Getty Images

Formula One driver safety has been put under the spotlight after a sweltering Qatar Grand Prix that saw one retire due to illness and a number of others seek medical treatment.

Despite running under lights at Losail International Circuit the ambient temperature sat above 33 degrees for race start at 8pm local time.

The extreme heat coupled with an unprecedented race directive to enforce three mandatory pit stops combined to create what many drivers labelled the toughest race of their careers.

“It was borderline too much,” Mercedes star George Russell told Sky Sports.

George Russell said the heat in Qatar was “insane”. Picture: Getty Images

“It was by far the most physical race I’ve ever competed in, it was insane how hot it was – it was like racing inside of an oven.

“I sometimes train in saunas and push my body to the limit and you get to the point where you think, ‘It’s too hot, I want to get out’ and that was the feeling from about lap 12.

“To be honest there were points I thought I was going to faint during the race. I was pretty happy to see the chequered flag.

“In the cockpit it’s nearing 50 degrees. You’ve got your fireproof layer on, your race suit, you have hot air coming from the cars in front of you and you just can’t cool down.

“It’s like you’ve got someone blowing a hair dryer in your face for an hour and a half and that’s not even taking into consideration the physicality of driving in a F1 car.”

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll said he was “passing out” and suffering from blurred vision during the race.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said.

Lance Stroll said he was “passing out” during the Qatar Grand Prix. Picture: Getty Images

“These temperatures — everything goes blurry. The last 25-30 laps it’s just blurry in the high-speed corners.

“Blood pressure dropping, just passing out, basically, in the high-speed corners with high loaded G-forces. The kerbs are now painted because they’re worried about punctures.

“I couldn’t see where I was going because I was passing out. I was fading in and out. The temperature was too much.”

Williams rookie Logan Sargeant withdrew himself from the race on lap 41 and was later found to have suffered from severe dehydration.

His was the only heat-related retirement, however a host of drivers admitted they came close to calling it quits in the face of extreme conditions.

Esteban Ocon revealed he was “throwing up … for two laps” early in the race yet somehow steeled himself to finish seventh.

“I was doing that (vomiting) and thinking, ‘Shit, it’s going to be a long one’,” he said.

Esteban Ocon revealed he was “throwing up … for two laps” early in the race. Picture: Getty Images

“I managed to get that under control and just mentally tried to focus on what I had to do.

“I’ve never had that in the past. I’ve always been able to do (double) race distance in the car, that’s what I’ve trained for, but today … it must have been like 80 degrees inside the car today.”

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso could be heard asking for Aston Martin engineers to pour water over him during a pit stop, such were his struggles with the heat.

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc said forcing teams to pit three times – a directive from the FIA due to concerns over severe tyre degradation – meant drivers were racing at the limit for all 57 laps which only made the attrition worse.

“That was the toughest race of our careers for every single driver,” Leclerc declared.

Charles Leclerc said the Qatar Grand Prix was the toughest race of his career. Picture: Getty Images

“On its own it would have been the toughest race, because of the heat. The heat was absolutely crazy.

“Second, we’ve got a lot of high speed corners and third, which I think is the most significant thing, is adding three stops.

“We were all thinking it would be a full push race for tyres with little management, but I think we underestimated that meant we were under so much more stress in the high speed corners which is normally not the case.

“It’s difficult to put into words how difficult it was. It starts to be on the limit I think for some drivers, so we need to be careful for that.”

Originally published as ‘Insane’ heat at Qatar Grand Prix puts F1 driver safety in spotlight