Circuit Profile: Bahrain Sakhir

Lap Distance: 3.914miles/6.2620km

Lap Record: Fernando Alonso 1m58.287

Race Distance: 191.786miles/306.8580km

Number of Laps: 49

 

Formula 1 entered uncharted territory when it came to Bahrain for its first ever event in the Middle East in 2004.

Both Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley had long been keen to push the sport beyond its traditional European roots, and the addition of a race in a Gulf state was near the top of their wish list.
Despite fears that sand would play havoc with both engines and grip levels, the Sakhir track’s desert location has been more of an incongruous backdrop for grand prix racing than an impediment of any kind.
The circuit itself follows the template created by now famous track designer Hermann Tilke, featuring long straights leading into tight corners to maximise overtaking opportunities plus the obligatory state-of-the-art paddock buildings and grandstands.
This year it features an additional twisty loop, added ostensibly to accommodate 2010’s larger field, which will provide some novelty but doesn’t look like a great new challenge.
The drivers are generally polite, rather than enthusiastic, about the layout – keen not to offend their gracious hosts, but privately admitting that its slow, fussy corners offer them little that they can really get their teeth into.
Sakhir has yet to host a truly classic race with Ferrari dominating the inaugural Bahrain GP and Fernando Alonso controlling the 2005 event.
The 2006 and 2007 races were probably the best to date: in the former, Alonso overcame Michael Schumacher in a tense duel which set the tone for their subsequent championship contest, while Felipe Massa resisted a charging Lewis Hamilton in ’07.
This year it returns to the season-opening slot for only the second time, having previously been round one in 2006.

Source: ITV F1