Representative image: the MotoGP grid at Lusail International Circuit, Qatar, in 2019. Photo: Box Repsol / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A list titled “Zero Hour,” attributed to Iran’s Fars news agency, includes hotels in Qatar and the UAE that MotoGP and F1 teams use on race weekends, according to GPBlog, which reported it on November 3. The list is described as possible retaliation targets if the US and Israel attack Iran again. Grande Prêmio, repeating that report, says neither the list’s authenticity nor the threat has been independently verified. We could not locate the Fars item itself.
MotoGP’s Qatar round at Lusail runs November 6–8, moved from April because of the regional conflict, Al Jazeera reported on October 23. F1 is scheduled for Qatar on November 27–29 and Abu Dhabi on December 4–6. No cancellation or calendar change has been announced for any of them.
What the reports leave out
Neither report gives a hotel name, a city, a publication date for the list or a quote from Fars. Neither carries a statement from F1, the FIA, MotoGP or Dorna about it. Whether “Zero Hour” is a targeting document or a roundup of Gulf venues is not something the secondhand descriptions settle.
MotoGP at Lusail
MotoGP says it is going ahead after consulting Qatari authorities, the circuit, embassies and security advisers, per Grande Prêmio. Ducati (whose ownership talk we covered in September), Aprilia, KTM and Honda intend to race. Racesport reports the organizer is proceeding despite objections from 19 of the 22 riders, and that some media who were at Sepang said they had received no such guarantees.
Yamaha has pulled its factory team and Pramac from the round, citing company-wide travel restrictions. That removes Fabio Quartararo, Álex Rins, Jack Miller and Augusto Fernández from the grid. Álex Márquez is out for a separate reason, a recent shoulder operation. The organizer has said staying home could carry contractual and possibly sporting consequences; sporting sanctions fall under the FIM, and Racesport notes president Jorge Viegas has not spoken publicly. Marc Márquez is due in Qatar on Thursday evening, keeping his stay short, and the pre-event press conference has moved to Thursday at 20:00 local time.
F1 in November and December
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said on October 20 that he expects the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races to run as scheduled, while adding he could not predict developments, according to Reuters. GPBlog separately reported that Formula One Management would reassess after the US midterm elections held November 3 and that contingency plans are under consideration; F1 has not confirmed either. Max Verstappen said during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend that going depends on the guarantees offered and how the situation develops.
None of the guarantees MotoGP or F1 refer to has been published, and no security plan has been released. Security claims around race weekends have been checked before: on October 30 we reported that Austin police said they did not run the private escorts a company advertised for the F1 weekend at COTA.
First practice at Lusail is Friday morning. Should MotoGP run Qatar this weekend with a list like this in circulation and 19 of 22 riders reportedly opposed?
Sources: GPBlog and Grande Prêmio reporting of the Fars “Zero Hour” list (November 3); Racesport (November 3); Al Jazeera (October 23); Reuters via TimesLIVE (October 21).
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