Qatar's battle to host one of the international Grand Prix car race was fought, and lost, in the Gulf. Qatar had been jockeying to host one of the events, but thanks to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi's veto power, was unable to win the prize. Talk about poor neighbor relations.
For the past three years, motorsport fans in Qatar have been crossing their fingers and hoping a Grand Prix would show up in their backyard. In 2012, Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Attiyah commented that he would like to bring the event to the small Gulf nation.
Talks were underway between Qatar and F1 last year; however, Ecclestone announced that Bahrain, the first regional nation to host the event, possessed the power to veto any new cities added to the circuit within the region.
"I made a deal with the people in Bahrain and they said, 'If we are going to be something new in this area, which we are, will you give us a guarantee you won't put another race on in the area, in the Gulf?'," he said according to Reuters .
Bahrain circuit chief executive Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al-Khalifa responded to questions regarding the veto saying, "It's not for us [to say]. It's for the rights holder. We welcomed Abu Dhabi when they came on board and we'll wait and see," according to Reuters.
“I think we’ve got enough here, don’t you?” Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone responded to reporters questions regarding a future Grand Prix in Qatar while he attended this week's Grand Prix in Bahrain.
Currently Bahrain and Abu Dhabi both host F1 Grand Prix events, Bahrain toward the beginning of the season and Abu Dhabi at the end. Staging a third regional event in Doha would have been tricky with scheduling, as a middle of the year summer race would be out of the question due to extremely high temperatures. Last month FIFA announced that the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar would be rescheduled for the winter months, to avoid the heat problem.
In February, it looked like things were going in a very different direction with an even anticipated for 2016 or 2017. “We are about to sign contracts to organize a Formula One race. We have completed all the steps and there are only a few details before the official signature,” said Al Attiyah according to Doha News .
Although Qatar currently must spend massive amounts building infrastructure to host the 2022 World Cup, hosting the Grand Prix would be much less of a financial undertaking. Doha is already home to the Losail International Circuit, which already hosts MotoGP and World Superbikes races. The facility would only require minor adjustments to host the F1 event.
It still remains to be seen what will happen in the end, but maybe Qatar's money can't buy everything after all.