Bahrain Grand Prix in Stats

Circuit Name	Bahrain International Circuit
Country	Bahrain
City	Sakhir
Circuit Type	Permanent course
Capacity	50,000
Designer	Hermann Tilke
First Race Held	2004
Number of Races Held	8
Number of Laps	57
Circuit Direction	Clockwise
Total Number of Corners	15
Number of Right Hand Corners	9
Number of Left Hand Corners	6
Maximum G-Force	3.6 G
Circuit length	5.412 km (3.363 miles)
Race length	308.2 km (191.5 miles)
Pit Lane Length	420m
Longest Stretch at Full Throttle	13 seconds
Time Spent At Full Throttle	63%
Number of Gear Changes	60
Most Successful Team	Ferrari, 4 wins
Most Successful Driver	Fernando Alonso, 3 wins
Lap Record	1:30.252 - Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004
Lap Record Average Speed	216kph, 134mph
Top Speed Recorded	312 km/h (193 mph)
Wins From Pole	4/50%
Time Zone	UTC +3
Coordinates	26°1′57″N 50°30′38″E
Average Temperature	30°C
Average Weather	Dry, Sunny

CIRCUIT INFO

Located in the middle of nowhere, the circuit has been described of having all the charm of an airport departure lounge, although some of the more modern airports might be offended by the comparison.

Like many sporting arenas in the Middle east, its existence is down to the enthusiasm of enthusiast Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and funding from government-backed investment companies. A racing enthusiast, the Crown Prince is the honorary president of the Bahrain Motor Federation.

As is the case with many of the new generation of circuits BIC was designed by Hermann Tilke and contains five different track layouts within the complex. Work started in late 2002 and was completed in time for the first grand prix in March 2004. There were changes made ahead of the 2010 race to try to improve the event as a spectacle but these achieved little.

Being surrounded by sand dunes, one of the major worries has been sand on the track which can reduce tyre adhesion considerably as well as affect engines and other parts. Although the organisers sprayed the surrounding sand with an adhesive to keep it in place, although this keeps the majority of the sand off the track organisers regularly sweep the surface during a race weekend.

While the facilities are superb, the heat means the only spectators are housed in the main stands - to try to watch from anywhere else would mean risking frying - and as a result the atmosphere on large sections of the circuit is too often eerily quiet.

The circuit itself consists of 20 slow to medium-speed corners which means cars need to be set up for good traction.

In 2007 it became the first active grand prix circuit to be named as an FIA Centre of Excellence for safety. The land around the circuit is currently being developed to provide much-needed hotels (the nearest large hotels are in Manama) as well as facilities for industry, education and entertainment in a project reported to be costing US$2billion.