Getting to the Qatar Grand Prix
The Qatar Formula 1 Grand Prix is held at the Lusail International Circuit which is north of Doha, Qatar.
There are three main ways of travelling to the circuit, and I’ll cover each of these in more detail below:
- Parking (free)
- Taking the Metro train service and shuttle buses (free)
- Taking a taxi (not free!)
Driving and parking
There’s quite a bit of info to know about the parking situation, so I’ve written a separate guide on parking at the Qatar GP with all the info in one place. Check that out for more details.
Metro & Shuttle buses
This is the option that most of us visiting F1 fans use to get to the Grand Prix on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of race weekend. It’s a very efficient service, and it’s free!
Doha has a Metro (train) service running throughout. This is a modern, clean, air-conditioend, spacious and very safe service to use. It’s also a driver-less train service, and one of the fastest in the world, so a cool thing to experience.
There are a number of different coloured Metro lines that run throughout the city, but the line we’re interested in for getting to the circuit is the Red Line.
To get to Lusail Circuit you should take the Metro on the Red Line to the Northern-most stop which is the Lusail station. The Lusail station is still quite a way from the track, so when you get off the train there are loads of free shuttle buses orgnised by the circuit that take to you straight to the track.
If you’re not within walking distance of your nearest Metro station you can use one of the many free Metrolink buses that go from most popular destinations to the nearest Metro station. You can ask your hotel concierge on where the nearest Metrolink pick-up point is.
Alternatively, you could take a taxi directly to the Lusail station and then hop on one of the free shuttles from there to the track.
Metro tickets
F1 tickets holders can get a free three-day pass for the metro. All you have to do is go to any metro station and show your F1 tickets to the staff there, and they’ll give you a three-day pass for free.
And that three-day pass can be used across the whole Metro, not just the Red Line.
Metro timings
The Metro service has extended hours of operation for the Grand Prix weekend, to take in to account the night racing at the circuit. These are the Metro service timings from the last event, and they’re likely to be the same this year:
| Qatar GP Metro Times | ||
|---|---|---|
| Day | Metro Starting Time | Metro Ending Time |
| Friday | 9:00 AM | 1:30 AM |
| Saturday | 5:00 AM | 1:30 AM |
| Sunday | 5:00 AM | 2:30 AM |
Shuttle bus timings
The free Shuttle Bus runs from Lusail station to the circuit, and then the circuit back to Lusail station after the track action has finished. It’s around a 30 minute journey in nicely air-conditioned buses.
If you’re heading to the track from downtown Doha, you should allow at least 90 minutes from starting your journey to arriving at the circuit using the Metro and shuttle option. Allow a little more on Saturday and Sunday when it’s busiest.
Getting to the track was seamless and there were plenty of buses waiting at Lusail station to take us to the track. But leaving the circuit took a little longer.
If you leave the circuit at peak time just after the racing has finished along with everyone else, you can expect waits of up to around 45 minutes to get on a shuttle back to Lusail station. Last year they really ramped up the number of buses available on the Sunday of the race weekend to make the wait times shorter, but it can still take a while.
Here are the shuttle bus timings across the race weekend:
| Qatar GP Bus Shuttle Times | ||
|---|---|---|
| Day | Bus Shuttle Starting Time | Bus Shuttle Ending Time |
| Friday | 11:45 AM | 1:00 AM |
| Saturday | 1:15 PM | 1:00 AM |
| Sunday | 11:45 AM | 2:00 AM |
Shuttle bus drop-off location
When the shuttle bus drops you off at the circuit, depending on where you’re sitting, that might not be the end of the journey. On the map of the circuit below I’ve shown where the shuttle bus drop off point is:
As you can see, if you have tickets for the T16 grandstand then it’s only a 15 minute walk from the shuttle to your seat. However if you’re sitting on the other side of the track, in the T2 grandstand, T3 grandstand or the Lusail Hill GA area, then it’s closer to a 45 minute walk to get to your seats.
There is a free internal circuit shuttle bus that takes you around the circuit and drops you closer to your stand, so if you want to avoid the walking keep an eye out for that.
Taxis
You can use Uber or the local taxi service Karwa to get to the circuit. Both can be booked in advance to take you there using their respective apps. Unlike the shuttle buses these taxis don’t have dedicated lanes, so have to sit in traffic with the rest of the cars.
The drop-off point for the taxis is in the same area as the shuttle drop off, so you’ll have the same walk to your seat as a I mentioned above.
Last year only Karwa was available to leave the circuit and as far as I could see, you couldn’t book these in advance. You had to just line up in the queue for a taxi and wait until you were at the front to get on it. It was a long queue – the shuttle bus line was much quicker. Karwa taxis take card payment.
Getting to / from the circuit on Thursday for the pitlane walk
If you’ve managed to get Thursday afternoon pitlane walk tickets well done! They’re pretty hard to get hold of. But unfortunately there are no free shuttles from the Lusail station to the track on the Thursday, so you have to make your own way there, so I’d suggest getting a taxi to the circuit on the Thursday.
Airport to the track
The main international airport in Doha is Hamad International Airport (DOH).
The airport is also served by the Doha Metro. But bear in mind that on most days (other than Saturday and Sunday of the race weekend) the Metro doesn’t start running until 9am. If you arrive before that time, then just take a cab to your accomodation or wherever you need to go.
The airport is actually on the same Red Line of the Metro station as the Lusail Metro station. The journey time on the metro from Lusail to the airport is about 45 minutes. If you’ve booked a quick flight out of Doha after the race ends on Saturday night, you probably need to leave yourself a couple of hours from leaving your seat to get to the airport to be safe.
