F1 Closely Monitoring ‘Tragic’ Qatar Bombing Ahead of November Race

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali said the sport is closely “monitoring” the situation at Qatar’s capital city, Doha, after it was allegedly bombed by Israel earlier this week. The Qatar Grand Prix is scheduled for the 30th of November, but with heightened tensions, F1 remains on high alert.

What adds to the concern is that the Lusail International Circuit is a few kilometers from the area that was targeted. Planet F1 confirmed that the Israeli military owned up to carrying out the attack against Hamas leaders, leading to the death of six people.

Qatar’s foreign ministry has reacted to the attack, suggesting that it is not going to take it lightly, leading to further uncertainty about the Grand Prix in Doha. The ministry stated:

“While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty.”

Domenicali is keeping a tab on the developments taking place at Qatar, but at the moment, he has not spoken about a potential cancellation of the event. Instead, he stated that F1 could bring more positivity to the region under tension. Speaking on the attack on Doha, he told The Observer:

“That is very tragic, very difficult. We are monitoring the situation very closely but we are not in a situation today where we can say that it is a concern [for the race to go ahead]. We hope that sport will bring positivity.”

Adding further on F1 being a medium to unify the world, given its extensive global reach, he said:

“We are the only worldwide sport that every year is around the globe where we meet with prime ministers, with kings, with everyone, with the top men in the world.

“So my hope is that through F1 we can also talk about the bigger picture of the world in a way that the sport can unify the world that we’re living in.”

Similar to the 2024 round, the Qatar GP is the second-to-last race on the F1 calendar this year, followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Unlike last year, when Max Verstappen clinched his fourth championship at Las Vegas, the battle for the 2025 Drivers’ Championship between McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris could be decided in Qatar or Abu Dhabi, given the narrow points gap between them of just 31 points, with the Australian driver leading the standings.