Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain

Lap distance: 5.412 km (3.363 miles)
Number of laps: 57
Racing direction: Clockwise
Corners: 15
Most driver wins: 5 Lewis Hamilton
Most constructor wins: 7 Ferrari
Sakhir, Bahrain

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Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain circuit details

The Bahrain circuit was new for the 2004 season and was designed by Hermann Tilke. It was the first race to be held in the Middle East as F1 expanded out of its traditional venues into new markets. Situated in the desert means the heat and the sand are a challenge to the engineers and the wind is a challenge to the drivers. In 2014 the race moved to being a night race which changed the nature of the race and makes it a great spectacle.

2025

Race winner: Oscar Piastri McLaren
Oscar Piastri won having taken pole position in a race that had all the teams using different tyre strategies. George Russell had another good race in second place ahead of the other McLaren of Lando Norris an the then the two Ferrari's. Oliver Bearman started last on the grid but finished 10th.

2024

Race winner: Max Verstappen Red Bull
Max Verstappen won comfortably from pole position ahead of team mate Sergio Perez who started second. The Ferrari's of Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc came in 3rd and 4th ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell. Max Verstappen also took the fastest lap. McLaren and Aston Martin filled the rest of the top 10. Alpine struggled at the back of the pack with a seemingly comparatively slow car.

2023

Race winner: Max Verstappen Red Bull
Max Verstappen won from pole position ahead of team mate Sergio Perez who started second. Fernando Alonso was third in the much improved Aston Martin. Charles Leclerc retired from what seemed a safe third position, suggesting Ferrari may not have solved their reliability problems from the previous season although Carlos Sainz Jr did finish 4th. McLaren had a difficult race with Lando Norris having 6 pit stops.

2022

Race winner: Charles Leclerc Ferrari
Charles Leclerc took pole position, the win and fastest lap. He battled with Max Verstappen for most of the race before both Red Bulls retired with late in the race giving Carlos Sainz Jr in the other Ferrari second place and Lewis Hamilton was third with the Mercedes being definitely slower than the Ferrari's and the Red Bull's.

2021

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Max Verstappen took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton but Lewis Hamilton won the race using a different tyre strategy. Max Verstappen pushed had for the win but just lost out. Lando Norris had a solid race into 4th place for McLaren and Sergio Perez was 5th after starting from the pit lane.

2020 Race 2

Race winner: Sergio Perez Racing Point
The race was run over a modified version of the track. Lewis Hamilton did not race after being tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced by George Russell from Williams. George Russell looked comfortable for a win but Mercedes called in both cars for a pit stop under a safety car, but put some of Bottas's tyres onto Russell's car, so he had to come back and change tyres and then he had a puncture and had to have another pit stop. Sergio Perez won the race giving him his first win in Formula One ahead of Esteban Ocon.

2020 Race 1

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton took pole position and won from Max Verstappen. however the story of the race was the serious accident of Romain Grosjean when his Haas hit a barrier, broke in two and caught fire. Fortunately Romain Grosjean escaped with only minor burns.

2019

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Charles Leclerc dominated the 2019 race until a technical problem caused him to loose battery power meaning he was passed by both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. He kept 3rd place when the safety car was deployed as both Renaults had engine failure on the same lap. Sebastian Vettel was on for second place until he spun under pressure from Lewis Hamilton. it was a race that should have finished with a Ferrari 1-2, but due to errors and faults gave Mercedes a 1-2.

2018

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel won the race from pole position. Kimi Raikkonen had a strong race until forced to retire after an incident at his second pit stop. Both the Red Bull cars retired early, leaving the two Mercedes to chase Vettel's Ferrari. With Hamilton starting from 9th on the grid after a penalty for a gearbox change it was Bottas who was most likely to catch Vettel. Ferrari were on a 2 stop strategy, Mercedes changes their to a 1 stop forcing Vettel to try and complete the race on soft tyres going much longer than predicted. This led to an exciting end to the race as Vettel just held off Bottas on the last lap. Pierre Gasly had an excellent race in his Honda powered Toro Rosso to finish 4th, ahead of both McLaren’s now with Renault engines.

2017

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
Valtteri Bottas took pole position, but then struggled for race pace. Sebastian Vettel took the victory, helped by Lewis Hamilton getting a 5 second penalty for deliberately holding up Daniel Ricciardo at a pit stop under a safety car.

2016

Race winner: Nico Rosberg Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton took pole position from Nico Rosberg, but it was Nico Rosberg who made the start and won comfortably. Lewis Hamilton had problems at the start but recovered to third. The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel failed to make the start, but Kimi Raikkonen took his Ferrari to second place. Romain Grosjean finished fifth in the second race for Haas and Stoffel Vandoorne finished 10th in his first race in F1 as a replacement for the injured Fernando Alonso.

2015

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton won in 2015 from pole position with Kimi Raikkonen second and Nico Rosberg third. Valtteri Bottas was fourth holding off Sebastian Vettel who had to change the nose of his car.

2014

The 2014 race was the first of the Bahrain GP's to be run at night under lights. It was dominated by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Lewis Hamilton took pole and won the race but was pushed all the way by Nico Rosberg as the team let their driver race wheel to wheel. Force India also had a good race with Sergio Perez finishing third to give the team only their second podium finish. Williams continued their improved season with both cars in the top ten, but both Red Bull and Ferrari struggled to to match the pace of the Mercedes. There was plenty of close racing and overtaking making this one of the most exciting F1 races for some time and also had the most pit stops of the season (58).

2013

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
In 2013 Nico Rosberg took pole position but the race was won by Sebastian Vettel with all the action going on behind him. There was lots of close wheel to wheel racing and overtaking during the race with Lotus taking 2nd and 3rd places and a good drive from Paul DiResta to take 4th place equalling his best result in his career. Ferrari had technical problems with Fernando Alonso having problems with his DRS wing and Felipe Massa having two tyre failures during the race.

2012

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
The 2012 race was run despite concerns for safety and was won from pole by Sebastian Vettel and with Kimi Raikkonen taking his Lotus into second place.

2011

Race winner: Race cancelled
The 2011 race was cancelled due to political unrest in Bahrain

2010

Race winner: Fernando Alonso Ferrari
The 2010 season started in Bahrain with Ferrari coming home first and second, but with the four new teams for this season struggling for pace and reliability.

2009

Race winner: Jenson Button Brawn
The 2009 race was the first dry race of the season and gave Button his third win in four races.

2008

Race winner: Felipe Massa Ferrari
Ferrari took a first and second place with Felipe massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton had a poor start, ran into the back of Fernando Alonso and he had to recover to 13th from the back of the field. Jenson Button and David Coultard had a coming together and then Jenson Button retired.

2007

Race winner: Felipe Massa Ferrari
In 2007 Hamilton became the first driver to finish on the podium in his first three F1 races.

2006

Race winner: Fernando Alonso Renault
The 2006 race provided a good opening for the season with Raikkonen having a car failure in qualifying and then coming from last to 3rd in the race. Alonso and Schumacher fought for the lead, with Alonso just edging out Schumacher at the second set of pit stops.

2005

Race Winner: Fernando Alonso Renault
Fernando Alonso won from pole position ahead of Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen after Michael Schumacher retired with a mechanical problem.

2004

Race Winner: Michael Schumacher Ferrari
The first race in Bahrain was won by Michael Schumacher followed by his Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button in the BAR in third.