Bahrain International Circuit: The Ultimate Bahrain Grand Prix Track Guide

It was a sign of things to come in 2023 as Verstappen and Red Bull dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, while Alonso scored an impressive podium on his Aston Martin debut.

A new season of Formula 1 began at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant making their debuts. Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso moved to Aston Martin with Pierre Gasly taking his Alpine seat. Nico Hulkenberg also made a full-time return with the Haas team. Lance Stroll was on the grid for the season-opener, despite not partaking in pre-season testing due to a cycling crash.

Following on from their strong form in testing, Red Bull topped the timesheets in qualifying. Max Verstappen secured pole position, with team-mate Sergio Perez alongside him on the front row. Aston Martin also converted their pre-season promise into a strong Saturday performance. After topping the times in the final two practice sessions, Fernando Alonso put himself fifth on the grid, behind the two Ferraris.

After a clean run into Turn 1 as the lights went out on Sunday, the first drama of the race came at Turn 4, where Stroll tapped team-mate Alonso. The duo were lucky to escape without race-altering damage. Charles Leclerc made his way past Perez for second place, while Alonso set about making up positions, racing wheel-to-wheel with George Russell for fifth place.

Valtteri Bottas benefited from the undercut, putting him sixth and ahead of both Alonso and Russell after their first stops – though Alonso soon found his way past the Alfa Romeo. Back near the front, Perez found his way back past Leclerc on Lap 26, with Verstappen sailing away in the lead.

All pit stops complete, Alonso found himself on the tail of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and the duo rolled back the years with a side-by-side scrap for fifth place. After a failed attempt at Turn 4, Alonso fought his way through on the inside of Turn 10 – an unconventional place to make an overtake stick.

Debutant Piastri found himself on the sidelines early on in what was to be a race to forget for McLaren. The Australian was joined in the retirees club by Ferrari’s Leclerc, who had been running third until engine issues brought his evening to a premature end on Lap 40.

One Ferrari down, Alonso was now fighting fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz for the final step on the podium. After another close moment for Alonso at Turn 4, he pulled off another impressive move on Sainz on Lap 45, securing a podium finish on his first appearance with Aston Martin.

Verstappen dominated the race and was unchallenged for victory, crossing the line 11 seconds ahead of his Red Bull team-mate. In the lower regions of the points, Gasly scored on his Alpine debut, while Alex Albon picked up a point for Williams in tenth place.

Formula 1’s 2022 season began with a race long battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ferrari started the year with a 1-2 finish, while both Red Bull drivers retired.

Formula 1’s new era began with the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. It was a false start for Sebastian Vettel, who sat out the race weekend after testing positive for coronavirus. His seat was taken by Nico Hulkenberg.

Saturday’s qualifying session saw a close fight for pole between the two Ferraris and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc secured the first pole position of the season, beating Verstappen’s lap time by a little over a tenth of a second. 

Leclerc maintained his lead at the start, while Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen went wheel-to-wheel through the opening corners in a battle over fourth place. The other Haas driver, Mick Schumacher, was less successful on Lap 1, getting spun around by Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident. 

Verstappen stayed close to the back of the leading Ferrari and attempted an overtake at the first turn on Lap 17. He made the move stick, only for Leclerc to take the position back at Turn 4. On the next lap, the same thing happened again with the two drivers swapping positions at the same corners. Next time around, Verstappen attempted a move at the first corner for a third consecutive lap but locked up.

Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire ten laps from the end, coming to a stop at the side of the track and necessitating a Safety Car. That presented a seven-lap shootout between Leclerc and Verstappen for the first win of the season. The Red Bull made a poor restart, allowing Carlos Sainz the chance of taking second place at Turn 1. As Verstappen began to complain of battery issues, Sainz made a relatively easy pass on the back straight on Lap 54.

Red Bull confirmed an issue on Verstappen’s car as he began to slow and was passed by those behind him. He pulled into the pits and retired, leaving team-mate Sergio Perez in third place. Things went from bad to worse for Red Bull as Perez began to lose power on the penultimate lap. The Mexican’s car spun and stopped at the first turn on the final tour, leaving Lewis Hamilton to secure a highly unlikely podium finish, given Mercedes’ porpoising issues over the winter. 

Leclerc and Sainz secured maximum points for Ferrari at the opening race of the year, leading home the team’s first 1-2 result in well over two years. Magnussen impressed on his comeback with a fifth place finish, while Zhou Guanyu impressed on his debut, taking home the final point with tenth place.

The 2021 Formula 1 season began with the Bahrain Grand Prix. Though Max Verstappen took pole position, it was reigning champion Lewis Hamilton who secured the first victory of the season.

Pre-season testing – held at Bahrain International Circuit two weeks prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix – had suggested that Red Bull would be a real threat to Mercedes’ dominance in 2021. That proved to be the case on Saturday, as Max Verstappen took pole position with an advantage of almost four tenths over Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen’s new team-mate Sergio Perez, who had qualified eleventh, came to a halt on the Formation Lap. He was able to get going again, but as the drivers started another Formation Lap, Perez was consigned to start from the pit lane.

The race finally began, with Verstappen maintaining the lead in the opening corners. Just three turns into his debut Grand Prix appearance, Nikita Mazepin – who had struggled to keep his Haas car pointing in the right direction for most of the weekend – spun and crashed out of the race. At the restart, Hamilton challenged Verstappen for the lead, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc close behind, but the Red Bull again maintained the advantage. While the McLaren pair duelled for position, Mazepin’s team-mate Mick Schumacher suffered a spin of his own and Pierre Gasly lost his front wing following contact with the rear of Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton pitted for the first time on Lap 14, while Verstappen stayed out for a further four laps. Hamilton took the lead of the race as a result of the undercut – and would stay ahead after the pair’s second stops too. Verstappen set about closing the gap for a tense end to the Grand Prix. A wide moment from Hamilton on Lap 51 allowed Verstappen to close within DRS range of the Mercedes. Verstappen made his move at Turn 4, but ran off track in passing Hamilton and was forced to give the position back. Verstappen did not give up, but his attempts were ultimately futile, and Hamilton claimed victory by 0.745 seconds.

Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel’s debut weekend with Aston Martin did not go to plan. After a Q1 exit and a grid penalty, a collision with Esteban Ocon in the race saw him pick up a further penalty and more penalty points. After dicing with Fernando Alonso during the race, Yuki Tsunoda scored points on his F1 debut, becoming the first Japanese driver to do so. While Valtteri Bottas completed the podium positions, Perez was awarded Driver of the Day for his fine comeback drive from the pit lane to fifth.

After 190 Grand Prix starts, Sergio Perez took his maiden Grand Prix victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, as George Russell impressed on his Mercedes debut.

There was a driver shuffle ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was out of action after testing positive for coronavirus. His seat was taken by regular Williams driver George Russell. Following Romain Grosjean’s crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Haas seat was filled by Pietro Fittipaldi, while Russell’s vacant Williams cockpit was taken by F2 racer Jack Aitken. Russell impressed throughout practice, topping both sessions on the first day of running on the shorter and quicker layout of Bahrain International Circuit. While Max Verstappen topped the timesheet for Red Bull in final practice, Valtteri Bottas pipped his new team-mate to pole position by just 0.026 seconds.

Russell made the perfect start, overtaking his team-mate into Turn 1. Further round the first lap, Charles Leclerc made contact with Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. Leclerc and Verstappen were out on the spot, while Perez dropped to the back of the field – but was able to return to the pits, rejoining in eighteenth. The Safety Car period ended on Lap 7, where Carlos Sainz challenged Bottas for second place, briefly getting ahead. Perez began his climb back through the field, and was back into the points-paying positions by Lap 21. A Virtual Safety Car period was called as Nicholas Latifi’s Williams came to a halt trackside. Sainz pitted – but the timing didn’t work out for him, with the caution period ending just as he entered the pit lane. The timing did help Perez, who was soon passing his team-mate for fourth place, before moving by Esteban Ocon for third. Debutant Aitken was responsible for the race’s final – and decisive – Safety Car outing. The Williams driver lost his front wing on the main straight, and promptly pulled into the pits. Mercedes double stacked their cars, but the stops went dramatically wrong. Russell was sent out on a mixed set of tyres, while Bottas suffered a slow stop and left the pits on the tyres on which he came in. Russell pitted next time around to enable the pit crew to fix their mistake. This promoted Perez into the lead of the race, followed by Ocon and Lance Stroll, with the Mercedes behind. Russell pulled off a bold move on Bottas for fourth place and continued his charge up the order. The Mercedes driver was within two seconds of race leader Perez, but then picked up a puncture, necessitating yet another trip to the pits. From there, Perez was unchallenged for the victory, winning the first Grand Prix of his career. Esteban Ocon finished on the podium for the first time, while Stroll made this the first race since the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix to feature both of Team Silverstone’s cars on the podium. Russell was left to rue what could have been, but still picked up the first points of his career with ninth place and the Fastest Lap.

The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix will be remembered for Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash, from which he was lucky to escape relatively unscathed.

As the startling lights went out at Formula 1’s first night race of 2020, polesitter Lewis Hamilton led his team-mate away from the line in the ordinary fashion. But this was to be no ordinary start to a Grand Prix. At the rear of the field, Romain Grosjean clipped Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, sending the Haas driver spearing into the barriers at high speed. As the car sheared in two and penetrated the metal barriers, the French driver was engulfed in flames. Thankfully, with quick response from the FIA medical team, Grosjean escaped relatively unharmed for such a huge impact. Nevertheless, burns to his hands would bring a premature end to the Frenchman’s F1 career. The race was red flagged, with a long delay as necessary repairs were made to the barriers.

The race resumed with a standing start. Hamilton re-took pole position, but this time was joined by Max Verstappen on the front row. Valtteri Bottas had made a poor start the first time around, so restarted from fourth. Sergio Perez challenged Verstappen for second at the opening turn, but there was more trouble further back. Lance Stroll’s car was flipped over by Kvyat, with the Safety Car called out as a result. Bottas picked up a puncture which dropped him to the back of the field. The rest of the race was a less dramatic affair, that was aside from Perez. After running in the podium positions, the Racing Point’s engine expired, costing the Mexican a top three finish. The race ended under Safety Car conditions, with Hamilton taking the win, Verstappen second, and Alex Albon inheriting the final podium position. It proved to be Hamilton’s final win in his seventh title winning season.

Charles Leclerc took the first pole position of his career and looked set to win the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix, until a mechanical failure handed the victory to Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages.

After struggling to find the speed in Australia, Ferrari were firmly back on the pace in Bahrain, and Charles Leclerc demonstrated the Scuderia’s pace by taking his maiden pole position. But it was his team-mate Sebastian Vettel who led into Turn 1, while Valtteri Bottas passed Lewis Hamilton for third place. The Finn soon made his way past Leclerc, dropping the Ferrari driver down to third. In the midfield, Lance Stroll made contact with a Haas, resulting in sparks flying on the opening lap. Back at the front, Leclerc re-passed Bottas on the second lap, and Hamilton followed him through. Carlos Sainz suffered front wing damage after colliding with Max Verstappen in a scrap for fifth place, while Antonio Giovinazzi sent Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso into a spin. On the sixth lap, Leclerc found a way past his team-mate at Turn 1 and re-took the lead. After the first round of pit stops, Hamilton closed in on Vettel and passed him. Immediately after the move was made, Vettel spun in his Ferrari and on the following straight lost his front wing. Nine laps from the end, Leclerc began to encounter engine issues and it wasn’t long before Hamilton and Bottas both sailed past. The Renaults had diced for sixth position, but it was ultimately futile – both Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg retired within a few corners of each other. The ensuing Safety Car meant that Leclerc was able to hold on to the first podium finish of his career, while Mercedes scored a 1-2 finish.

Sebastian Vettel won from pole position under the floodlights after a tight battle with Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages.

A crash for Max Verstappen in Q1 put him way down the grid, while Lewis Hamilton started down the order due to a gearbox penalty. After the first lap, with Verstappen gaining places and Hamilton losing them, the pair ended up next to each other on track and a wheel-to-wheel battle on the second lap led to Verstappen picking up a puncture. Red Bull’s nightmare continued as Daniel Ricciardo’s car came to a halt on the same lap. Verstappen retired from the race on the third lap, while Hamilton’s fightback continued with a triple overtake into the first turn. A botched pit stop at Ferrari led to Kimi Raikkonen being released early and running over a mechanic, prematurely ending the Finnish driver’s race. At the front, Valtteri Bottas had pitted for Medium tyres, while Sebastian Vettel’s choice had been more aggressive, with the Ferrari running on the Soft tyres. Bottas’ tyres lasted better, leaving Bottas right behind Vettel in the final laps. Despite a valiant effort from the Mercedes driver, Vettel could maintain his lead, to take his second consecutive win of the season. Pierre Gasly had a notable performance at Toro Rosso. Having qualified sixth, he went on to finish fourth in the Grand Prix – Honda’s best result since their return to F1.