Bahrain International Circuit
Being the first Formula One race in the Middle East, Bahrain has stayed on the F1 calendar since it’s inaugural race in 2004 starting in the blistering desert heat before switching to becoming one of the most anticipated night races on the grid.
With long straights and fast corners, the track is always great for overtaking, giving us some of the best the races within a season. Taking the most recent race in 2022, the track along with the new cars saw fantastic battles and overtaking up and down the grid with Verstappen’s dog-fighting with Leclerc and Tsunoda’s excellent overtake on Schumacher.
It’s history and place in F1 has only been grounded by every race that goes on and be it this form or as the Sakhir track version, Bahrain is always an exciting race to watch.
Circuit History
Placed in one of the five locations that were investigated for the track, Hermann Tilke chose placing it in the heart of the Sakhir area in the centre of Bahrain’s main island due to the elevation the landscape naturally provided. Tilke designed the track to have several long straights while mixed with slow and medium speed corners giving cars with good traction and immediate advantage when coming to the track.
However, interest from F1 only came in 2002, 3 years after Tilke was approached; Bernie Ecclestone gave the still being needing to be built track an F1 Grand Prix in a time where other major countries such as India, Turkey and Russia were also fighting for calendar slots. Construction starting in 2022, it was given a 16 month window to be finished by, something a challenge at the time.
It’s rare that when visiting Bahrain the asphalt of the track isn’t mentioned and it’s for good reason with the polarising temperatures of the area meant a special asphalt was needed to suit the F1 cars. It needed to be grippy while being able to withstand unbearable heat and freezing cold nights. As Martin Brundle will remind you every race in Sahkir, the solution was one that wasn’t local to Bahrain, rather Shropshire, UK; tonnes of rock from the UK was shipped at a expensive cost to help in the final mix along with added polymers and other advanced materials found elsewhere worldwide to make the perfect tarmac for the track.
Although the deadline seemed feasible, the construction crews weren't helped by Formula One’s managements decision to place Bahrain 6 months forward on the calendar. In doing so, it would mean there would be less than a month between hand over and the final race event. However, with all the added pressures, the track met the new deadlines and racing commenced on the 4th April 2004, starting a new era of racing in the Middle East.
Formula One Track Layouts
Bahrain has had 3 track layouts from the usual suspect raced, the 2020 Sahkir layout used during pressure to fill out the race calendar during COVID while visiting different tracks and the endurance variation used in 2010 in an attempt to spice up the race.
Looking at the 2010 endurance track layout, the race saw a much longer lap time, with pole taken by Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:54.101. Comparing to de la Rosa’s time above , the track added more than 30 seconds along with 9 more corners. Although won by Fernando Alonso, he inherited the win from Vettel saw a gearbox issue, conceding the lead to the spaniard. Although a successful race, when the track returned in 2012 after being cancelled in 2011 due to Bahraini protests, it returned to the format we all know and love.
The 2020 outer loop layout looked to be an experiment by Formula One being the shortest lap in Formula One history along with many other memorable moments such as George Russell’s first outing in the Mercedes due to Hamilton contracting COVID and his crushing loss. Along with Perez’ first win and other moments, the track was one of the more exciting races in 2020. However, it is considered a one off event although it provided many headlines and drama following.
Races to Watch
Bahrain has provided so many good races worth finding and watching if you haven’t already. The last two years has seen the first instalment of the duel between Hamilton and Verstappen in some of the most heated final laps of the season, possibly a foreshadowing to how it would conclude and what looks to be the first instalment of Red Bull vs Ferrari in a exciting 2022 season. Further back than this, Vettel’s win in 2017 and 2018, what has become known as the desert duel in 2014 between Hamilton and Rosberg beginning the biggest inter team rivalry of the hybrid engine era and 2019’s crushing loss by Leclerc has saw engines issues lose him 1st and 2nd to the Mercedes.
There are so many great races to watch in a relatively short history in F1 terms. It’s worth watching bits of all to truly understand why Bahrain is truly a brilliant track and integral in modern Formula One.
