The announcement tone rings. “Please don’t leave your bags unattended,” says the announcer at Hamad International Airport. A blue shopping bag dangles in the hands of a middle-aged man, Christopher Leon Aguilar, an expatriate from Venezuela. He goes a step forward. Checks the arrivals board. Takes a step back. Stares at his watch. Taps his heels and leans by the railing. Eyes widen, pupils dilate.

“That’s Ralf! [Schumacher],” he says in excitement before making his way to the exit. Even though he is all masked-up, Aguilar is right; it is indeed Ralf Schumacher, former German racing driver, who won six Grand Prix between 1997 and 2007. He is also the brother of Michael Schumacher, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion. Aguilar reaches for his bag, picks out two scaled replicas of Schumacher’s helmets, and politely asks him to sign. Schumacher acknowledges and poses for a photo. “I cannot believe this,” Aguilar gasps in astonishment.

Lights will go out for the first time in Qatar as the country hosts its inaugural Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix at the Losail International Circuit. Qatar has been the home of MotoGP in the region, having hosted the pinnacle of motorcycling event since 2004. And now with F1, the country has taken a giant step in positioning itself as a major sporting destination of the region.

“The love for cars in Qatar and the wider region can really be associated with motorsports,” says Aimen Jan, a Pakistani expatriate based in Qatar for the past eight years. Jan got interested in Formula 1 after watching the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary series, Drive to Survive.

She finds that many people who were never interested in motorsports are going to the race because it’s a huge event that encourages them to be a part of it. “No matter their intention going into the weekend – they will walk away being more involved in the narrative of the
sport,” Jan adds.

Outside of MotoGP, WorldSBK, and some other local and regional racing series, motorsports in Qatar have been limited to one-off exhibitions and shows. According to Kanzah Malik, prior to this weekend’s race, the country’s exposure to motor racing has been relatively limited. “When I think of motorsports in Qatar, I really think of drifting and Red Bull, because that is like the overarching format and brand with enough exposure,” says Malik, an
Indian undergraduate student in Qatar who grew up in the UK. She has been following the sport since 2010.

“I don’t follow Formula 1 because I grew up around drag racing,” says Christina Atat, a Lebanese undergraduate student in Qatar who is a drag racer at Qatar Racing Club. She claimed her first Arab Drag Racing League victory at the age of 13, becoming the first woman ever to win the championship.

“There is a fan base here for motorsport, but I don’t think a lot of people know about the fact that it exists in Qatar,” says Atat. “Only the ones that actively follow it, know where to find it,” she adds.

“I believe this is a great opportunity not only for the fans of the motorsport, but also it’s a good opportunity for Qatar as a country, because now that we are just about to have the World Cup,” says Aguilar.

He believes the Qatar Grand Prix will bring the “attention and the eye of people around the world to Qatar.”

As the country strikes a 10-year deal with Formula 1 to host a Grand Prix every year for a decade, starting 2023 – Aguilar expects to see a “sharp” increase in the participation of fans. “This is the first Formula 1 race in Qatar, and you can see how the tickets are sold out,” he added, while indicating the fact that organisers had to add additional seating and grandstands to meet demand.

While having a Grand Prix puts Qatar on the Formula 1 map, it also paves the way for local avenues of motorsports to emerge from niche audiences and embrace the mainstream. “The passion for the sport is obviously going to build up,” says Malik. There is a prevalent sentiment that the arrival of Formula 1 in the peninsula can potentially trigger a ripple effect across the various forms of motorsports in Qatar.