After the excitement created in the scrutineers office at the Las Vegas race the F1 circus jets off to Qatar. This will be the third race in the country, with Lewis winning first time out in 2021, and Max winning both of the last two races. 2022 didn't take place.
I could ramble on about the excitement at the top of the drivers championship, how Max nad Red Bull have take the title race to Mclaren and their drivers, but you all know that. So I'm going to give you some facts about Qatar, as I know bugger all about it, other than it has lots of spare cash.
The country is run by the Al Thani family, and has been since the mid 1800's. The family is of Saudi Arabian descent and claims lineage to Ishmael, who's mother was a handmaiden to Abraham's wife, Sarah (?) The current head of state, or emir, is Amir Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Prime Minister is Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman Al Thani. In case you were concerned that there is a problem with nepotism in Qatar, don't worry, the UK Ambassador is Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani and the US Ambassador is Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani. The Qatari Royal family like to make sure there is a diversity of opinion in their government and international relations.
Qatar was part of the Ottoman empire from 1871 to 1915, after which it signed an agreement with Britain to become a separate state. It became a British protectorate in 1916, and was declared fully independent in 1971. It wasn't until 1940 that someone realised that the black stuff bubbling out of the sand could be collected and sold for a sizeable profit, prior to that the Qatari economy focused on fishing (it is a peninsula) and pearl hunting (which I didn't even know was a job). The Japanese crashed the global pearl market in the 1920's when they started producing cultured pearls. Now, thanks to oil and gas, citizens have a high standard of living and there is no income tax. Qatar has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the world.
To achieve this economic "miracle" Qatar relies almost entirely on migrant workers. Of the 2.5 million people who live there, over 88% are estimated to be non-Qatari. I won't bore you with all the stories about how they treat their migrant workers, suffice to say it is disgraceful.
Life for the average Qatari is also fairly tough. Criticism of the Emir is forbidden by law and the CIA Factbook rather chillingly says that citizens and immigrants practice "self-censorship", presumably not wanting a knock on the door in the middle of the night to be taken away for "reprogramming". Newspapers and tv are all controlled by the ruling family and it is reported that the Al Thani family help fund Al Jazeera, to make sure it is positive in its reporting of what goes on there. The news channel is based in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Not to be totally negative, Qatar has a minimum wage, controls on working hours and overtime, and well developed Occupational Health and Safety rules. Sadly, they aren't well enforced and international workers who try and escape poor working conditions are classified as "absconders" which can result in them being arrested and detained.
As you would expect from a middle eastern state, the temperatures are quite stunning. January and February look quite pleasant, with day time temperatures between 22 and 23 (on average). Summer gets up to 42 and has peaked as high as 50C. So welcome to Qatar, probably worth a trip to watch the race but take some sunscreen and don't get smashed and start wandering the streets as you will end up in prison.
Oh, there is a sprint race this weekend. So two poles and wins for Max then.
I could ramble on about the excitement at the top of the drivers championship, how Max nad Red Bull have take the title race to Mclaren and their drivers, but you all know that. So I'm going to give you some facts about Qatar, as I know bugger all about it, other than it has lots of spare cash.
The country is run by the Al Thani family, and has been since the mid 1800's. The family is of Saudi Arabian descent and claims lineage to Ishmael, who's mother was a handmaiden to Abraham's wife, Sarah (?) The current head of state, or emir, is Amir Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Prime Minister is Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman Al Thani. In case you were concerned that there is a problem with nepotism in Qatar, don't worry, the UK Ambassador is Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani and the US Ambassador is Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani. The Qatari Royal family like to make sure there is a diversity of opinion in their government and international relations.
Qatar was part of the Ottoman empire from 1871 to 1915, after which it signed an agreement with Britain to become a separate state. It became a British protectorate in 1916, and was declared fully independent in 1971. It wasn't until 1940 that someone realised that the black stuff bubbling out of the sand could be collected and sold for a sizeable profit, prior to that the Qatari economy focused on fishing (it is a peninsula) and pearl hunting (which I didn't even know was a job). The Japanese crashed the global pearl market in the 1920's when they started producing cultured pearls. Now, thanks to oil and gas, citizens have a high standard of living and there is no income tax. Qatar has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the world.
To achieve this economic "miracle" Qatar relies almost entirely on migrant workers. Of the 2.5 million people who live there, over 88% are estimated to be non-Qatari. I won't bore you with all the stories about how they treat their migrant workers, suffice to say it is disgraceful.
Life for the average Qatari is also fairly tough. Criticism of the Emir is forbidden by law and the CIA Factbook rather chillingly says that citizens and immigrants practice "self-censorship", presumably not wanting a knock on the door in the middle of the night to be taken away for "reprogramming". Newspapers and tv are all controlled by the ruling family and it is reported that the Al Thani family help fund Al Jazeera, to make sure it is positive in its reporting of what goes on there. The news channel is based in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Not to be totally negative, Qatar has a minimum wage, controls on working hours and overtime, and well developed Occupational Health and Safety rules. Sadly, they aren't well enforced and international workers who try and escape poor working conditions are classified as "absconders" which can result in them being arrested and detained.
As you would expect from a middle eastern state, the temperatures are quite stunning. January and February look quite pleasant, with day time temperatures between 22 and 23 (on average). Summer gets up to 42 and has peaked as high as 50C. So welcome to Qatar, probably worth a trip to watch the race but take some sunscreen and don't get smashed and start wandering the streets as you will end up in prison.
Oh, there is a sprint race this weekend. So two poles and wins for Max then.
