Since the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix in 2004, Bahrain International Circuit has hosted 21 Formula 1 races. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the track!
Track length: 5.412km
Race length: 308.238km
Laps: 57
Turns: 15
Circuit opened: 2004
F1 first visited: 2004
Races held: 21
Track Record: 1:27.264, Lewis Hamilton, Q3, 2020
Lap Record: 1:30.252, Michael Schumacher, 2004
RACE WINNERS
Since its inaugural race in 2004, there have been 21 Formula 1 races held at Bahrain International Circuit. The Bahrain Grand Prix has been held 20 times, while the one-off Sakhir Grand Prix was held on the outer layout of the circuit in 2020.
Since 2004, 2011 is the only year in which the Bahrain Grand Prix has not been held. The race was called off that year due to political unrest in the country.
Ten different drivers have won a race at Bahrain International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the venue, having won a fifth Bahrain Grand Prix in 2021.
Ferrari are the team with the most wins here, having taken victory on seven occasions.
Mercedes are the engine manufacturer with the most wins at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Mercedes-powered cars winning eight times.
Britain and Germany are tied as the nations with the most victories in Bahrain, with their drivers having each won at the track six times.
Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have taken back-to-back wins at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Verstappen has won the last two races in Bahrain, Alonso won consecutive Bahrain races in 2005 and 2006, while Vettel and Hamilton have won back-to-back races twice. Vettel won successive Bahrain Grands Prix in 2012 and 2013, and then again in 2017 and 2018, while Hamilton won consecutive races in 2014 and 2015 and then again in 2019 and 2020.
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to win the Bahrain Grand Prix in three consecutive seasons.
Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix for a third successive year in 2021 – though he missed the Sakhir Grand Prix, which took place at the track between those two races.
Mercedes hold the record for the longest streak of wins for a constructor at Bahrain International Circuit.
Mercedes won three races in a row at the track between 2014 and 2016. Renault, Ferrari and Red Bull are the other teams to have won successive races at the track.
There have been seven occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ferrari have recorded a 1-2 result here four times, most recently in 2022. Meanwhile, Mercedes have achieved the feat twice – in 2014 and 2019 – while Red Bull have finished 1-2 in Bahrain in each of the last two seasons.
Five drivers on the 2024 grid have previously won at Bahrain International Circuit.
There are three repeat winners on the grid. Lewis Hamilton has won five times, while Fernando Alonso has won here three times and Max Verstappen has won twice. Sergio Perez claimed his maiden F1 win at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, while Charles Leclerc took his first Bahrain Grand Prix victory in 2022.
Sergio Perez is the only driver to have recorded his maiden Grand Prix victory at Bahrain International Circuit.
The longest streak of different winners here is four.
Between 2008 and 2012 there were no repeat winners – something which happened again in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Bahrain Grands Prix.
The smallest win margin at this track came in 2018
Sebastian Vettel was chased down for the victory by Valtteri Bottas in 2018, the German eventually winning the race by 0.699 seconds. That’s one of only two times that the Bahrain Grand Prix has been won by less than a second, the other being in 2021.
The largest win margin here is 22.457 seconds
Fernando Alonso held the record for the largest win margin at Bahrain International Circuit for 14 years, having won by over 16 seconds on his début appearance for Ferrari in 2010. Max Verstappen set a new record for the largest winning margin at the track in 2024, when he won by 22.457 seconds.
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been won by less than five seconds twelve times. The average win margin at the track is 6.433 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
From the 21 previous races here, 20 different drivers have finished on the podium at the track.
Lewis Hamilton has had the most podium finishes at Bahrain International Circuit
Lewis Hamilton has finished in the top three here 11 times. 2023’s Bahrain Grand Prix was the first since 2013 in which he did not finish in the top three.
READ MORE: F1 Driver Form, Bahrain Grand Prix
Ferrari have the most top three finishes of any team in Bahrain.
In 2024, Ferrari took back the honour of being the team with the most podium results in Bahrain. They have 17 top three finishes in total here – one more than Mercedes.
Britain is the nation with the most podium finishes at Bahrain International Circuit.
British drivers have finished on the podium 13 times in total here, once more than nearest rivals Finland.
On the 2025 grid, there are ten previous podium finishers.
Lewis Hamilton holds the record with 11 podiums. Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen each have four top three finishes here, while Sergio Perez has three. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have finished on the podium twice, while Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll have all finished on the podium in Bahrain once.
POLESITTERS
11 different drivers have started from pole at Bahrain International Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen share the record for the most poles at the track, with three apiece.
Mercedes are the team with the most poles here, having set the fastest Saturday time seven times.
German drivers have far more poles than drivers from any other nation here, with seven. Only three other nations have more than one pole here. Britain has five, thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s poles in 2015, 2016 and 2020, Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc took pole for the 2019 and 2022 Bahrain Grands Prix and Dutch driver Max Verstappen took pole in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
From the 2025 grid, there are five previous Bahrain polesitters.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have three pole positions at Bahrain International Circuit, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc each have two poles here – including their maiden pole positions in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Fernando Alonso secured his only pole at the venue so far in 2005.
The longest streak of different polesitters at this track is six.
Between 2005 and 2010, there were no repeat polesitters. Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Vettel took pole in successive years.
Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have taken back-to-back poles here.
Sebastian Vettel took consecutive poles in the two Bahrain Grands Prix held between 2010 and 2012 (there was no Bahrain Grand Prix in 2011). Nico Rosberg did so in 2013 and 2014, Lewis Hamilton took his consecutive poles here in 2015 and 2016 and Max Verstappen has been on pole in each of the last two seasons.
No driver has taken more than two consecutive poles at Bahrain International Circuit.
Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes are the three teams to have taken consecutive pole positions at Bahrain International Circuit.
Mercedes hold the record for most successive poles at the track having taken pole in all five seasons between 2013 and 2017.
Four teams have locked-out the front row here
From the 20 races held so far at Bahrain International Circuit, there have been 11 occasions on which a team has locked out the front row of the grid. Mercedes have the most front row lockouts at the track, with five.
The smallest pole margin in Bahrain is 0.023 seconds.
0.023 seconds is the small margin by which Valtteri Bottas secured his maiden pole position in 2017.
The largest gap pole was taken by at this track is 0.455 seconds.
Fernando Alonso took pole by 0.455 seconds in 2005; albeit on aggregate times. The largest pole margin not decided by aggregate times was for Lewis Hamilton, who took pole for the 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix by 0.411 seconds.
Pole has been decided by less than a tenth on six occasions in Bahrain.
The average pole margin at Bahrain International Circuit is 0.209 seconds.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been won from pole position ten times.
Only five of the last ten races here have been won from pole position. A driver starting on the front row has won 14 times from the 21 races held here.
No driver has won here starting further back than fifth.
While the furthest back the Bahrain Grand Prix has been won from is fourth on the grid, which has happened twice – in 2006 and 2009 – the furthest back win at this circuit was for Sergio Perez in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. He won from fifth on the grid (though he ran last of the drivers still in the race at the end of Lap 1!)
There have been only six occasions on which the polesitter has not led at the end of Lap 1. It last happened at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, when Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by George Russell on the opening lap.
The worst position for the polesitter at the end of Lap 1 is seventh. Lewis Hamilton was seventh at the end of Lap 1 in the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The polesitter at this circuit has only failed to finish on the podium three times.
Polesitters who failed to go on and finish on the podium here are Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Nico Rosberg in 2013 and Valtteri Bottas at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. The latter was the first race at the circuit in which none of the top three on the grid finished on the podium.
READ MORE: F1 Grid Slot Statistics, Bahrain Grand Prix
The furthest back a podium finish has come from is 22nd on the grid.
That happened in 2006 when, after a rear wishbone failure in Qualifying, Kimi Raikkonen started from last. That didn’t stop him from taking his second podium finish in Bahrain.
SUNDAY STATS
Eight races at Bahrain International Circuit have seen a full Safety Car period.
All of the eight races before the 2024 event at the track featured a Safety Car outing – though the 2018 and 2023 races featured only Virtual Safety Car deployments.
The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first race in Bahrain to feature no Safety Cars or Virtual Safety Cars since 2016.
The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first, and so far only at the circuit, to feature multiple Safety Car outings.
Learn more: Every Safety Car appearance at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Unsurprisingly, there has never been a rain-affected race in Bahrain.
Rain is not really a factor in the desert surroundings of Bahrain International Circuit – but dust can be an issue.
The shortest race at Bahrain International Circuit came at the inaugural event.
The 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix was won in a time of 1:28:34.875 by Michael Schumacher, making it the shortest race on record at the track.
The longest Bahrain Grand Prix was the 2020 race – which Lewis Hamilton won after almost three hours following a red flag period caused by Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash.
15 different drivers have set the fastest lap of the race at this circuit since 2004.
Nico Rosberg is the driver who has set the most; he’s taken the honour three times – in his maiden F1 race in 2006, in 2014 and in 2016. Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc are the only other drivers to have set the fastest lap on multiple occasions around Bahrain International Circuit.
In total, 440 cars have entered a Grand Prix at this circuit.
355 of them have reached the chequered flag, giving an average finish rate of 81%. The fewest number of finishers at this track is 12, which happened in 2005. The most to finish a Bahrain Grand Prix is 21, which happened in 2013.
The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first race at Bahrain International Circuit in which every driver who started the race finished.
In the 21 races at the circuit, eight retirements have been recorded on the opening lap.
The 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix and the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix are the only races in which multiple drivers have recorded a first lap retirement.
The most drivers to finish on the same lap as the leader in a Grand Prix here is 17.
That happened thanks to late race Safety Car periods at both the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. The least to finish on the same lap as the race winner is six, which has happened three times – in 2005, 2016 and 2018.
The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix is the only race which has been red-flagged at this circuit.
The Red Flag was called due to Romain Grosjean’s horrific accident, which saw barrier repairs needing to take place.
The 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first race at this venue to not run to its scheduled distance.
Due to Sergio Perez’s mechanical issues on the formation lap, the start was aborted. Another formation lap was added, making the race distance one lap shorter.
There have been 1,218 Grand Prix laps raced at Bahrain International Circuit so far in F1 history.
Of those laps, Lewis Hamilton has completed the most tours of the track. The seven-time World Champion has raced 959 laps here to date in his Formula 1 career. The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix saw both Hamilton and Fernando Alonso overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver with the most laps completed at Bahrain International Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel has led the most laps in Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel has led more laps than any other driver at Bahrain International Circuit, having spent 237 laps at the front of the field.
The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first time that the winning driver led every lap of the race on their way to victory.
There have been only five in which the winner did not lead the most laps of the race. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for fewest laps led en route to victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He led only ten laps in 2019.
The highest number of drivers to lead laps in a single race at Bahrain International Circuit is five. Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen all led laps during the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix.
George Russell holds the record for most laps led here without a victory.
George Russell led 59 laps of the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix on his Mercedes debut but failed to win the race. A total of 13 drivers have led laps here without ever winning.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
There has never been a World Champion crowned at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
That’s an unsurprising fact given that – except in 2020 – the race has never been later than the fourth round of the season.
2020 is the only year that dead rubber races have taken place at Bahrain International Circuit.
Both the Bahrain Grand Prix and Sakhir Grand Prix were held after both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships had been decided.
The winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix has gone on to win the World Championship in the same year on 12 occasions.
In 2023, Max Verstappen became the first driver to do this since Lewis Hamilton in 2020. The championship leader after a race at the circuit has gone on to win that year’s title ten times.
There have been only eight occasions on which the Bahrain Grand Prix polesitter has been crowned that season’s World Champion.
Since 2013, Lewis Hamilton (in 2015 and 2020) and Max Verstappen (in 2021 and 2023) are the only drivers to take pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix and win the title in the same year.
