Bombing in Doha: Qatar GP at risk
The Israeli bombing in Doha, which just a few hours ago targeted the headquarters of Hamas’s political leadership in Qatar, now threatens to have direct consequences for Formula 1. The Losail International Circuit, which hosts the F1 Grand Prix, is located barely twenty kilometers from the capital that was hit. This proximity raises serious questions over the safety of the next event on the calendar, as reported by formula1.it.
The attack, claimed by Benjamin Netanyahu as a response to recent terrorist attacks in Israel, has shaken the region and undermined Qatar’s mediation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza. A similar situation had already occurred in the past: in 2022, during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, an Aramco facility was struck by missiles just a few kilometers from the Jeddah circuit, forcing FIA, teams and drivers into a long night meeting to decide whether the race could go ahead. In the end, the event was held, but that experience remains an uncomfortable precedent.
Today’s context, with an ongoing conflict that has now expanded beyond the borders of Gaza, makes the prospect of Formula 1 continuing to race in directly affected countries extremely fragile. Just as happened with Russia in 2022, when the Sochi Grand Prix was cancelled after the invasion of Ukraine, it would be reasonable for F1 to apply the same principle of consistency: avoiding turning the sport into a spectacle taking place above the rubble.
The question now is inevitable: can Formula 1 truly guarantee the safety of its drivers and teams, and above all, can it ignore the humanitarian crisis of a conflict that has caused hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths while choosing the paradigm of “the show must go on”? The answer can no longer be postponed, because the credibility of the sport also depends on these decisions.
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