After Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel outfoxed Lewis Hamilton to win the season opening Australian Grand Prix, round two of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns to the hot desert and under the lights in Sakhir at the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend for the Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. This will be the 14^th Grand Prix that Bahrain has hosted.

 

 

A Look at the Bahrain International Circuit

 

 

The Bahrain International Circuit is a permanent racing facility which opened in 2004 and is used for the FIA Formula One World Championship, FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the traditional 24 Hours of Bahrain. It is located at Sakhir, 30 kilometres south-west of the island’s capital Manama.

 

The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the same architect who has designed many other modern circuits on the Formula One calendar. The main contractor for the project was Cybarco-WCT. The multi-million-dollar project started back in September 2002 when the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a long-term deal to host the first ever Middle Eastern round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The circuit costed approximately 56.2 million Bahraini Dinars (US$150 million) to build and construct. It has six separate tracks, including a 6.299km endurance circuit, a test oval and drag strip.

 

The circuit posed a unique problem as it was positioned in the middle of a desert, there were worries that sand would blow onto the track and disrupt the race weekend. However, organisers of the event were able to keep the sand off the track by spraying an adhesive on the sand around the track to keep it still.

 

The surface of the track is made of Graywacke Aggregate, shipped to Bahrain from Bayston Hill quarry Shropshire, England. The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the high level of grip it offers. The same type of material is used at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

 

The 5.412 km Grand Prix circuit was designed to give spectators the best possible experience, with 50,000 grandstand capacity seating, all providing great views of the circuit. Those spectators (A total of up to 100,000 on the race weekend) get to see the cars charging into the external desert area, before coming back into the oasis-styled infield section. Over 500 journalists from around the globe can also witness the action from the venue’s purpose-built media centre.
A modified ‘endurance’ style track layout was used for the season-opening 2010 event, with an additional complex starting at Turn Four extending the lap to 23 corners from its original 15 and 6.299 km, but the event reverted to its original track configuration for 2012. It gives the driver a unique experience in the way the circuit’s width varies at the end of the different straights. This allows for diverse racing lines, and the 15-turn design provides three great places for overtaking.

 

The circuit places a lot of great challenges on the cars including cooling, braking performance and traction. The smooth tarmac and gentle kerbs encourage the drivers to attack the many medium speed corners. Tyre wear is normally on the cusp between a two-three stop strategy although the evening’s race takes the extreme temperatures out of the equation with track temperatures dropping fast as the sun goes down.

 

Another tough challenge for the engineers and in particular the drivers are the variable levels of grip that afflict the circuit. With high winds common, the circuit is frequently swept with dust from the desert, leading to the unusual circumstance of the circuit sometimes “devolving’ during the sessions.

 

The Bahrain International Grand Prix Circuit runs in a clockwise direction and is 5.412km (3.363 miles) in length with 15 corners.

 

The race distance is 308.238km (191.530 miles) in length with 57 laps in total.

 

Pedro De La Rosa holds the fastest lap record at the Bahrain International Circuit set in 2005 with a 1:31.447 in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20.

 

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are tied for most Bahrain Grand Prix victories with three each.

 

Scuderia Ferrari is the most successful Constructor at the Bahrain Grand Prix with five victories.

 

The Last Five Winners

 

2017: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1. 2015: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2014: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2013: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing.

 

Tyres

 

 

As in 2017, Pirelli will be bringing with them the red-marked “Super-Soft” tyres to Bahrain alongside the yellow-branded “Soft” compounds and the white-marked “Medium” rubber over the race weekend including the green-marked “Intermediate” and blue-marked “Full Wet” tyres in case of rain.

 

McLaren have gone most aggressive with their tyre choices going into this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix with the Woking-based outfit selecting nine sets of the supersoft rubber for both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne.

 

None of the other nine teams have followed that route with midfield rivals Force India, Haas and Renault all selecting eight sets of the quickest rubber available.

 

The top three teams have almost the same tyre choices as each other with seven sets of the supersofts for reigning Champions Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, with Sauber, Toro Rosso and Williams also opting for that amount.

 

The only difference between the top three giants is that Mercedes has its normal slight variance between both Silver Arrows drivers with reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton selecting two sets of the white-branded mediums and four sets of the softs along with both Ferrari and Red Bull pairings while Valtteri Bottas has one set of mediums and five sets of softs.

 

This is the first appearance of the white-branded Medium compound for the 2018 Formula One season this weekend in Bahrain.

 

DRS Zones

As in 2017, there will be two DRS Zones for the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. The first detection point is 10 metres before turn nine with the first activation zone 50 metres after turn 10. The second detection point is 108 metres before turn 14 with the second activation zone 270 metres after the final corner.

 

ICYMI: Australian Grand Prix Rewind

 

 

Sebastian Vettel capitalised on a mid-race safety car to snatch victory from Lewis Hamilton at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on the streets of Albert Park.

 

Vettel was third in the first stint but stayed out longer than Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and early race leader Lewis Hamilton and took advantage of the Virtual Safety Car & Safety Car periods to pit.

 

Vettel managed to keep Hamilton behind him with ease, aided by his fellow four-time World Champion’s lock up and off-track excursion into turns 9 and 10, coming through to win 5.036 seconds ahead as Raikkonen rounded out the top three and gave the Scuderia a double podium.

 

When the 58-lap season-opening Australian Grand Prix began, pole-sitter Hamilton kept the lead at the start and withstood a quick attack from Raikkonen at the third corner before slowly building into a comfortable three second lead, as Vettel kept his eye on the front-two in the other Ferrari.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen’s got an impressive start, running on the outside into the first corner to swamp Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and gave the front three an opportunity to move clear, and the Grand Prix was heading towards a processional in the opening stage.

 

Verstappen’s Red Bull RB14 racer looked lively behind the Haas VF-18 as the Dutchman complained over the radio of overheating rears, then Verstappen dramatically spun at turn one and fell to eighth.

 

The only change in the field before the pitstop window was Carlos Sainz’ RS18 running wide at turn 9 and allowed Fernando Alonso’s McLaren to slip into ninth, but the race turned upside down when drama struck American-outfit Haas.

 

Magnussen pulled over at turn 3 after his left rear tyre was not fitted properly, and team-mate Romain Grosjean suffered the same problem a lap later when an issue on his front-left caused the Frenchman to pull over on the left side upon the exit of the first corner immediately.

 

That deployed the virtual safety car, which was a huge boost for Ferrari as it used its two on one handicap over Mercedes to beneficial use, bringing Raikkonen in early so Hamilton reacted and stopped a lap later to cover Ferrari’s fresh-tyre advantage.

 

Vettel remained on track several laps longer and with the virtual safety car in force, he took the opportunity to pit while the rest of the field travelled slowly and came out just in-front of Hamilton, after being nine seconds behind and turning it into a race lead.

 

The real safety car was soon deployed and replaced its virtual version and the race remained stable until the 32^nd lap, giving Hamilton 26 laps to reclaim the lead from Vettel.

 

Hamilton hovered around a second behind Vettel for most of the time, then mounted a harder push with 12 laps remaining but locked up at turn nine and tripped over the grass.

 

That made Hamilton drop nearly three seconds behind and though he charged back within DRS range with five laps remaining he complained of his rears overheating and fell again.

 

Vettel crossed the line 5.036 seconds ahead of Hamilton taking his ninth victory for the Scuderia and giving Ferrari it’s 12^th Australian Grand Prix victory, equalling McLaren’s record.

 

Raikkonen kept Red Bull’s fast charging Daniel Ricciardo at bay to take third place, while Alonso, the other driver who was boosted by the mid-race safety car, completed the top five despite intense pressure from Verstappen.

 

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg had a quiet race to take seventh, hunting down Alonso and Verstappen in the closing stages.

 

Valtteri Bottas’ uneventful recovery from 15th was bolstered by the safety car and claimed eighth from McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, with a great pass into turn 3 on the restart. The Finn then chased down Hulkenberg but could not pass and was once again threatened by Vandoorne.

 

The second Renault of Carlos Sainz claimed the final points place, finishing 10^th after the Spaniard held off Force India’s Sergio Perez’s despite claiming he was nauseous in the final three-quarters of the Grand Prix.

 

As well as the Haas failures which changed the complexion of the race, three other teams lost a car over the course of the race.

 

Williams rookie Sergey Sirotkin suffered a brake issue on lap six and became the first retirement of the 2018 season, while Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson brought his C37 racer back into the pits on lap 14 with a hydraulic issue and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly retired after an MGU-H failure on lap 13.

2018 Formula 1 World Drivers Championship Standings

1. Sebastian Vettel – 25 Points.
2. Lewis Hamilton – 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen – 15 Points.
4. Daniel Ricciardo – 12 Points.
5. Fernando Alonso – 10 Points.
6. Max Verstappen – 8 Points.
7. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 Points.
8. Valtteri Bottas – 4 Points.
9. Stoffel Vandoorne – 2 Points.
10. Carlos Sainz – 1 Point.

 

2018 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Scuderia Ferrari – 40 Points.
2. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 22 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing – 20 Points.
4. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 12 Points.
5. Renault Sport F1 Team – 7 Points.
6. Force India F1 Team – 0 Points.
7. Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team – 0 Points.
8. Williams Martini Racing – 0 Points.
9. Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda – 0 Points.
10. Haas F1 Team – 0 Points.

 

The Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend kicks off with Free Practice One and Two Friday April 6, Free Practice Three and Qualifying Saturday April 7 and the 57 lap Bahrain Grand Prix Sunday April 8.