Formula 1 heads to a well-loved MotoGP venue this weekend, with the Losail International Circuit playing host to the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix. The 5.4-kilometre track is fast and flowing, with medium- and high-speed corners making up the majority of the layout. The main straight is over a kilometre long, allowing for plenty of slipstreaming opportunities on the run into Turn 1. Speaking on the RacingNews365.com F1 podcast ahead of the weekend, F1 journalists Mike Seymour and Dieter Rencken looked ahead to the action to assess whether Red Bull or Mercedes might fare better at the new venue "It looks like more of a Mercedes track on paper," Seymour said. "But we've said so many times this year, 'This track is a Red Bull track' or 'This track is a Mercedes track' and it's changed from our expectations and even throughout each weekend. "I think, like all races right now, it's difficult to call. You'd probably give Mercedes the edge, but we'll have to see as the weekend unfolds. "It's exciting to be heading to a new track, and it's quite a strange experience, actually, to be heading to two new circuits for the final three races, at the end of a really close title battle. "It's just another dynamic, another element and layer to what has been an incredible season. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it plays out as usual and let's see who comes out on top." Rencken maintained that it's too close to call between the two teams, and that the fast and flowing nature of the track has points that both teams enjoy. "I think it's gonna be very, very tight," Rencken commented. "It's not a long straight circuit. It's really flowing, but it doesn't really have the sort of flat-out blast the way we had in Mexico or in Sao Paulo. "I think it's going to be very, very close to call and that's the best thing we could have for the third last race of the season." Listen to the latest RacingNews365.com F1 Podcast below!
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