Invicta Racing arrives in Qatar for Round 13 of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 season after a two-month break. With sights firmly set on both championships, the team are ready to hit the track in Lusail for the first time and get the penultimate event of the campaign underway.
With only two rounds remaining, the team is laser-focused on retaining the lead in both the Drivers’ and the Teams’ championships. Last time out, Gabriel Bortoleto risked it all, going wheel-to-wheel on the streets of Baku to add vital points to his and the Teams’ tally.
A new circuit on the Formula 2 calendar awaits at Round 13; the Lusail International Circuit’s 5.419km layout lends itself perfectly to the intense racing F2 is famous for and will prove challenging for teams and drivers as they adapt to the desert heat.
Track notes
The Lusail International Circuit is a fast and flowing track, featuring a mixture of medium and high-speed corners. The main straight takes up over one kilometre of the total track length, providing plenty of overtaking opportunities.
The run down to the first corner is the fastest section on the track and the high-speed right-hander of Turn 1 feeds quickly into a tricky left turn. The flat-out right-hander of Turn 3 then opens out onto a short straight before the double right-hander of Turns 4 and 5 rounds out the first sector.
Sector 2 opens with the slowest corner on the track, the hairpin before the right-hander of 7 and the flat-out Turns 8 and 9. The high-speed Turn 10 feeds into the curved straight of 11.
A trio of fast right-handers kick off the third and final sector, then a short, sharp braking zone precedes Turn 15. The final corner at 16 is the slowest on the track, bringing you out onto the start/finish straight to end the lap.
Team formbook
As this is the team's first time racing in Qatar, there is no past form to compare to in 2024.
Memorable moment
Back in 2009, GP2 Asia raced at the Lusail International Circuit and not only were the podium results replicated in both the Sprint and Feature, but it was an all-F1 alumni rostrum with the top three comprising Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Pérez and Vitaly Petrov.
Andy Roche, Team Principal
“The end of the season is edging closer and with every weekend that passes, we do enough to keep ourselves in the hunt for both championships. Qatar is an unknown quantity, which isn't what you want at this stage in a title race, but it's the same for everyone on the grid, so I'm hopeful we'll be able to score good points and put ourselves in the best position possible ahead of Abu Dhabi."
All local times AST (UTC +3). Follow Invicta Racing for updates throughout the weekend.
Live timing for all sessions can be found here.
