Bahrain International Circuit layout & lap records

Description

Bahrain Track: three corners in detail

Mainstraight Bahrain International circuit

The Bahrain International Circuit is a typical Hermann Tilke circuit with a lot of long straights and slow corners. The cars drive clockwise, just like most circuits are designed.

In 2010 the track used an extended piece of circuit. Because the race wasn't more exciting it was never used again. Since 2014 the race is being driven after sunset. Floodlights are used to light up the track for TV and the drivers. Racing in the dark is also less warm and exhausting for the drivers.

Turns 1 & 2
The first corner is actually very tight as the driver brakes down from over 330 km/h to just over 60 km/h. Delivering the correct engine braking support to square up the rear of the car without creating too much 'push' is the aim as the driver will need a stable car under braking but must still be able to turn in. Engineers will do this by tweaking the engine maps.

Turns 11 & 12
After a slow exit from Turn 11 the track goes uphill into Turn 12 so as well rapidly switching direction, the car is also climbing. This therefore puts the oil system under pressure as the fluids in the system move from side to side very quickly but are also squashed down in the tank as the altitude increases. To avoid engine starvation, where the oil moves away from the pumps, engineers will check the minimum levels in practice.

Turns 14 & 15

Exit corner 15 Bahrain Circuit

The driver must get the exit of Turn 14 completely right as it falls slightly off camber as it enters Turn 15; running wide will compromise the acceleration down the long straight.

Getting correct gear ratios helps in this respect, but finding the right balance is never easy as the circuit has a variety of corner speeds. Finding the sweet spot in the engine is therefore tricky, particularly on different fuel levels and pending DRS and KERS release patterns.

The lap records set by Schumacher in the first race on this circuit, still stands on this day. Will it ever be broken?

Podiums

F1 Podium Winners on Bahrain Circuit

Year	Race	Date	Top 3 Drivers	Teams	Laps
2023	2023 Bahrain F1 GP	March 5	Max Verstappen Sergio Pérez Fernando Alonso	Red Bull Red Bull Aston Martin	57
2024	2024 Bahrain F1 GP	March 2	Max Verstappen Sergio Pérez Carlos Sainz	Red Bull Red Bull Ferrari	57
2022	2022 Bahrain F1 GP	March 20	Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari Ferrari Mercedes	57
2021	2021 Bahrain F1 GP	March 28	Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes Red Bull Mercedes	56
2020	2020 Bahrain F1 GP	November 29	Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Alex Albon	Mercedes Red Bull Red Bull	57
2019	2019 Bahrain F1 GP	March 31	Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Charles Leclerc	Mercedes Mercedes Ferrari	57
2018	2018 Bahrain F1 GP	April 8	Sebastian Vettel Valtteri Bottas Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari Mercedes Mercedes	57
2017	2017 Bahrain F1 GP	April 16	Sebastian Vettel Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas	Ferrari Mercedes Mercedes	57
2016	2016 Bahrain F1 GP	April 3	Nico Rosberg Kimi Räikkönen Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes Ferrari Mercedes	57
2015	2015 Bahrain F1 GP	April 19	Lewis Hamilton Kimi Räikkönen Nico Rosberg	Mercedes Ferrari Mercedes	57
2014	2014 Bahrain F1 GP	April 6	Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Sergio Pérez	Mercedes Mercedes Force India	57
2013	2013 Bahrain F1 GP	April 21	Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Romain Grosjean	Red Bull Lotus F1 Lotus F1	57
2012	2012 Bahrain F1 GP	April 22	Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Romain Grosjean	Red Bull Lotus F1 Lotus F1	57
2010	2010 Bahrain F1 GP	March 14	Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari Ferrari McLaren	49
2009	2009 Bahrain F1 GP	April 26	Jenson Button Sebastian Vettel Jarno Trulli	Brawn Red Bull Toyota	57
2008	2008 Bahrain F1 GP	April 6	Felipe Massa Kimi Räikkönen Robert Kubica	Ferrari Ferrari BMW Sauber	57
2007	2007 Bahrain F1 GP	April 15	Felipe Massa Lewis Hamilton Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari McLaren Ferrari	57
2006	2006 Bahrain F1 GP	March 12	Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Kimi Räikkönen	Renault Ferrari McLaren	57
2005	2005 Bahrain F1 GP	April 3	Fernando Alonso Jarno Trulli Kimi Räikkönen	Renault Toyota McLaren	57
2004	2004 Bahrain F1 GP	April 4	Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Jenson Button	Ferrari Ferrari BAR	57

Driver Ranking

Driver Ranking Bahrain Circuit

	Driver	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	17	5	2	4	11	3	1	3.9	3.7	246
2	Sebastian Vettel	12	4	1	0	5	3	2	6.3	6.3	148
3	Fernando Alonso	17	3	0	1	4	1	1	8.0	7.5	90
4	Max Verstappen	10	2	2	0	4	3	2	5.9	9.0	108
5	Felipe Massa	13	2	1	0	3	1	1	6.6	7.8	61
6	Nico Rosberg	10	1	1	1	3	2	3	5.6	5.9	83
7	Michael Schumacher	5	1	1	0	2	2	1	6.6	7.2	27
8	Charles Leclerc	7	1	0	1	2	2	2	6.0	7.9	63
9	Jenson Button	11	1	0	1	2	0	0	8.3	12.4	28
10	Kimi Räikkönen	16	0	5	3	8	0	1	9.1	6.9	120
11	Valtteri Bottas	12	0	2	2	4	1	2	6.3	7.2	101
12	Sergio Pérez	13	0	2	1	3	0	0	9.5	9.4	80
13	Carlos Sainz	10	0	1	1	2	0	0	8.7	10.5	59
14	Jarno Trulli	7	0	1	1	2	1	1	8.7	7.9	24
15	Rubens Barrichello	7	0	1	0	1	0	0	10.3	9.3	13
16	Romain Grosjean	9	0	0	2	2	0	0	12.0	10.1	50
17	Alex Albon	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	11.6	10.0	18
18	Robert Kubica	5	0	0	1	1	1	0	9.8	10.8	9
19	Daniel Ricciardo	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.8	10.8	54
20	Lando Norris	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.3	8.7	40
21	Mark Webber	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.8	8.2	31
22	George Russell	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.0	9.5	28
23	Pierre Gasly	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.6	11.7	26
24	Paul di Resta	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.5	5.0	20
25	Kevin Magnussen	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.9	12.6	20
26	Nico Hülkenberg	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.3	12.6	20
27	Nick Heidfeld	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.5	11.7	10
28	Esteban Ocon	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	12.0	10
29	Lance Stroll	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	12.8	10
30	Daniil Kvyat	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.3	10.3	8
31	Ralf Schumacher	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.3	9.3	7
32	Yuki Tsunoda	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.5	10.5	6
33	Stoffel Vandoorne	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	9.0	5
34	Juan Pablo Montoya	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.0	9.0	4
35	Oscar Piastri	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	14.0	4
36	Pedro de la Rosa	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	14.0	14.3	4
37	Heikki Kovalainen	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	13.0	11.6	4
38	Takuma Sato	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.4	14.8	4
39	Vitantonio Liuzzi	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	13.3	2
40	Timo Glock	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.3	13.8	2
41	Marcus Ericsson	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.2	14.0	2
42	Christian Klien	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	11.0	1
43	Zhou Guanyu	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	13.0	12.3	1
44	David Coulthard	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	14.4	1
45	Giancarlo Fisichella	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	14.2	1
46	Jolyon Palmer	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	13.0	0
47	Giedo van der Garde	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	21.0	0
48	Roberto Merhi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	17.0	0
49	Giorgio Pantano	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	16.0	0
50	Jaime Alguersuari	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	13.0	0
51	Brendon Hartley	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.0	17.0	0
52	Karun Chandhok	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	24.0	24.0	0
53	Nyck de Vries	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	14.0	0
54	Patrick Friesacher	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	12.0	0
55	Will Stevens	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	16.0	0
56	Gianmaria Bruni	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	17.0	0
57	Olivier Panis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.0	9.0	0
58	Alexander Wurz	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.0	11.0	0
59	Yuji Ide	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	19.0	0
60	Zsolt Baumgartner	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	19.0	0
61	Nikita Mazepin	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	20.0	0
62	Rio Haryanto	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	17.0	0
63	Sergey Sirotkin	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	15.0	0
64	Lucas di Grassi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.0	23.0	0
65	Cristiano da Matta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	10.0	0
66	Logan Sargeant	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	16.0	0
67	Jacques Villeneuve	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	15.5	0
68	Narain Karthikeyan	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.5	20.0	0
69	Felipe Nasr	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	13.0	0
70	Vitaly Petrov	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	18.5	0
71	Kazuki Nakajima	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	17.0	0
72	Anthony Davidson	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	16.0	0
73	Pascal Wehrlein	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.5	12.0	0
74	Scott Speed	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	17.5	0
75	Jules Bianchi	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	17.5	0
76	Sébastien Buemi	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.5	16.5	0
77	Mick Schumacher	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	13.5	0
78	Charles Pic	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.5	20.5	0
79	Sébastien Bourdais	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	14.0	0
80	Tiago Monteiro	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	13.5	0
81	Max Chilton	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	16.5	0
82	Bruno Senna	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	20.5	0
83	Nelson Piquet Jr.	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.5	15.0	0
84	Antonio Giovinazzi	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.7	13.0	0
85	Esteban Gutierrez	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.7	18.7	0
86	Jean-Eric Vergne	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.7	18.7	0
87	Kamui Kobayashi	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.3	16.7	0
88	Nicholas Latifi	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	16.0	0
89	Christijan Albers	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.3	16.3	0
90	Pastor Maldonado	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.8	15.8	0
91	Adrian Sutil	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.2	16.2	0

Team Ranking

Team Ranking Bahrain Circuit

	Team	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Ferrari	20	7	7	3	17	6	6	4.6	6.1	351
2	Mercedes	14	6	4	6	16	6	5	4.6	3.9	402
3	Red Bull	19	4	5	1	10	5	4	7.6	7.8	319
4	Renault	12	2	0	0	2	1	0	10.0	10.8	48
5	Brawn	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	5.0	3.0	14
6	Lotus F1	4	0	2	2	4	0	0	12.0	7.3	72
7	McLaren	20	0	1	3	4	0	2	9.7	9.9	146
8	Toyota	6	0	1	1	2	1	1	8.6	8.3	26
9	Force India	10	0	0	1	1	0	0	12.1	11.1	59
10	Aston Martin	4	0	0	1	1	0	0	12.1	10.3	27
11	BMW Sauber	5	0	0	1	1	1	0	9.6	12.6	19
12	BAR	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	8.8	9.3	10
13	Williams	20	0	0	0	0	0	1	12.2	12.4	50
14	Haas	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.4	13.7	34
15	Toro Rosso	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	15.0	22
16	Alfa Romeo	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	12.9	11.2	19
17	AlphaTauri	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.9	12.0	14
18	Alpine	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	13.8	10
19	Honda	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.2	14.2	5
20	Sauber	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.2	13.3	4
21	Jaguar	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	11.0	1
22	Racing Point	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.5	15.3	1
23	Spyker	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	14.5	0
24	Racing Bulls	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.5	13.5	0
25	Virgin Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.5	21.5	0
26	Midland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.5	19.5	0
27	Jordan	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.5	15.0	0
28	Minardi	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.5	15.3	0
29	HRT	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.8	21.0	0
30	Super Aguri	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	17.5	0
31	Caterham	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.9	17.3	0
32	Manor	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.5	17.4	0