#Formula1 @GulfAir #BahrainGrandPrix 2020 Preview. #F1 #BahrainGP @BAH_Int_Circuit

After Lewis Hamilton took a dominant victory in an action-packed Turkish Grand Prix to wrap up his seventh World Driver’s Championship crown and equal the legendary Michael Schumacher for most Driver’s titles, round 15 of the 2020 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 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020. This will be the 16^th Grand Prix that Bahrain has hosted.

 

 

2020 Bahrain GP Preview – 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.

 

Sebastian Vettel has the most Bahrain Grand Prix victories with four to his name.

 

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

 

A lap of the Bahrain International Circuit

 

 

Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Bahrain International Circuit from last year’s event, set by Charles Leclerc in his Scuderia Ferrari SF90. The Monegasque-youngster posted a blistering 1:27.866. You can watch the footage right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTezG7LJL5o

 

2020 Bahrain GP Preview – The Last Five Winners

 

 

2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2017: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1. 2015: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.

 

2020 Bahrain GP Preview – Tyres

 

 

Pirelli will be bringing with them the red-marked C4 “Soft” tyres to Bahrain alongside the yellow-branded C3 “Medium” compounds and the white-marked C2 “Hard” rubber over the race weekend including the green-marked “Intermediate” and blue-marked “Full Wet” tyres in case of rain.

 

Drivers will have eight sets of the softs, three sets of the mediums and two sets of the harder compounds.

 

2020 Bahrain GP Preview – DRS Zones

There will be three DRS Zones for the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. The first detection point is 50 metres before turn one with the activation zone 23 metres after turn three. The second detection point is 10 metres before turn nine with the second activation zone 50 metres after turn 10. The third detection point is 108 metres before turn 14 with the third activation zone 170 metres after the final corner.

 

ICYMI – Turkish GP Rewind: Hamilton clinches seventh world title with victory

 

 

Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his seventh Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship crown after a dominant victory in an action-packed Turkish GP ahead of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, while Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished 14^th after suffering several spins.

 

The Briton who started from sixth on the grid, charged through the pack in wet-and-wild conditions to secure the 2020 Driver’s Title, equalling the legendary Michael Schumacher with the most driver’s championships.

 

The majority of the Grand Prix was led by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who lost out from making his second pit-stop for another set of intermediates, a strategy Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc used to push to third in the closing stages, which he lost to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after making a final-lap lunge on Perez, whilst Mercedes opted to leave Hamilton on a one-stop strategy after he charged up the leading customer Mercedes-powered Racing Point RP20 entries.

 

When the 58 lap Turkish GP began, the entire field made slow, slippery starts, but it was the Red Bull Racing pairing that could not get the power down from off the line, which saw Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon quickly overhauled from second and fourth by the two Mercedes and Renault’s.

 

Esteban Ocon followed Perez into the Turkish Corkscrew (Turn One) in third position as Stroll lead from the front grid slot, but he was sent into a spin by Daniel Ricciardo, who turned out of the left-hand corner to avoid Hamilton, with the F1 W11 EQ Power+ racer suddenly appearing on his inside.

 

Ocon spun around and Bottas had nowhere to go, having a synchronised spin with the Renault as he avoided a collision – although the Finn later tangled with the Renault driver into a second spin, giving him a left-rear puncture, as he lost the rear of his Mercedes at the left-hand turn nine on the opening lap.

 

Stroll and Perez pulled clear, with Hamilton moving up to third from sixth, but slipped off at turn nine and was jumped by a quick-starting Vettel, who made his way up from 11^th on the grid, and the recovering Red Bull of Verstappen.

 

At the end of the first lap, Stroll had a 3.6 second gap over Racing Point team-mate Perez, which he extended to five seconds with a string of fastest laps over the next few tours before the Mexican started to slowly reel towards his team-mate.

 

After Leclerc found it was the right time to take on a fresh set of green side-walled intermediates taking his initial stop from 14^th place, with the leaders following suit two laps later, lead by Vettel and Hamilton from third and fifth respectively – by which time the latter had become the quickest driver on circuit.

 

When they pitted on the eighth lap, Verstappen was free from being stuck behind Vettel and insisted on remaining out on track on his full wet rubber until the 11^th lap, two tours later race-leader Stroll came in and easily kept the lead.

 

Perez pitted the lap before Verstappen, but had a slow right front tyre change, and when the Dutchman finally stopped – with Albon the last of the leading drivers to switch tyres – Verstappen just managed to jump in-front of Vettel, a touch behind Perez.

 

Stroll’s gap once the first round of pit-stops was up to 10.7 seconds, with the race stabilised by the deployment of the virtual safety car as Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi – who crashed on his way to the grid ahead of the Grand Prix, along with Williams Racing’s George Russell – pulled off track to retire on the straight down the hill after the famous turn eight.

 

When the race went green two tours later, the Red Bull duo were able to light their tyres up best of the leading drivers, with Verstappen putting Perez under-pressure and Albon making short work of Vettel at turn seven on the 16^th lap after Hamilton suffered a lock-up and went off at turn 12 – the track’s hot-spot for overtaking – the lap the virtual safety car ended.

 

Verstappen had the opportunity to pass Perez when the Mexican slipped out of turn nine on the 18^th lap, after he began to make big gains in Stroll’s lead, but after the Red Bull driver looked to Perez’s inside at the turn 11 kink he ran out on the kerbs on the outside and lost the rear of his Honda-powered RB16 racer, spinning off at high-speed and dropped behind Albon, Vettel and Hamilton.

 

After flat-spotting his tyres from that scary moment, the Dutchman pitted for another set of intermediate rubber, falling to eighth place with Albon then charging in on Perez as Hamilton struggled to keep up with Vettel as the teams questioned whether it was time to change to slicks.

 

By the 24^th lap, Perez had cut team-mate Stroll’s lead to just over four seconds, with Albon following close behind the two Racing Point’s before dropping back over the next five tours as he struggled with the intermediates on a drying track.

 

The tread degrading away on the green-marked rubber appeared to favour Vettel and Hamilton, as they started to reel in the leaders as the Grand Prix reached the mid-way point, when Leclerc again sparked another flurry of stops as he pitted for more intermediates from ninth place.

 

His stop encouraged Vettel to pit as well, with Albon then giving Hamilton third place after suffering a spin at turn four on the 34^th tour, after which he immediately stopped.

 

At the front, Perez was rapidly closing up to Stroll, getting within one-second – with DRS being activated on the 30^th lap – as Racing Point considered whether to put on a fresh set of intermediates or leave its drivers on track.

 

But with Hamilton suddenly appearing in the two RP20’s midst and the Ferrari’s flying on their new set of compounds, Stroll came in on lap 36, emerging fourth, behind Verstappen – a major factor again thanks to his second stop.

 

Hamilton told Mercedes to leave him out and by the 37^th tour, he was within DRS range of the leading Perez, then made the simple overtake on the long rundown to turn 12 to grab first place, which he had in the opening laps been almost a pit-stop behind.

 

The Briton then rapidly moved clear of Perez, who also did not pit for another set of intermediates, increasing his lead of nearly 20 seconds over the next ten tours.

 

In the field behind, Vettel, now being followed by his fast-charging team-mate Leclerc, attacked a struggling RP20 of Stroll into turn 12 on the 39^th lap, and when the former race leader fought back at the left-hand corner, the Canadian went deep and was overtaken by both Ferrari’s – then relegated at the same spot by Albon and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz on the next two laps.

 

Leclerc was making moves once again on lap 40, passing Vettel with DRS assistance on the run-down to turn 12 and quickly built a gap over his team-mate over the next few laps, the point where Sainz overtook Albon for fifth and the gaps between the leaders spread out massively.

 

Despite the threat of heavy rain returning in the closing stages, Hamilton, after Mercedes considered a safety stop for the Briton given his big lead over Perez, came home to a dominant Turkish GP victory by 31.633 seconds.

 

Leclerc had slid off the track at turn four as the Grand Prix entered its final stages, but had enough of a gap over team-mate Vettel to stay third, where he was on course to finish before the gap to Perez closed in fast over the last tours.

 

Perez ran deep into turn nine on the final lap and gave Leclerc the opportunity to attack the Racing Point into turn 12, but the SF1000 went too deep, which allowed Perez to remain in second and then suddenly allowed Vettel to snatch third place.

 

Leclerc thus settled for fourth ahead of McLaren’s Sainz, with Verstappen recovering to take sixth place ahead of team-mate Albon despite suffering another spin as they lapped the spun Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen off the circuit at turn four.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris relegated Stroll to ninth when the former race leader slipped off-track at the first corner late on, with Renault’s Ricciardo, who also took a spin whilst fighting Norris a few tours before, completing the top ten.

 

Bottas wound up 14^th and a lap down behind his race winning team-mate, spinning a further three times – five in total – as the Finn struggled in a race where he needed to beat Hamilton by eight points to keep the title-battler alive.

 

Bottas pitted take on a new set of intermediates in the closing stages after his team-mate put the Finn a lap down, but his pace could not match Hamilton’s until the final tour.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen came in to retire late on, having re-joined the race after being released from his second pit-stop with a loose wheel – which is currently being investigated.

 

The other VF-20 Haas entry of Romain Grosjean and Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi also retired in the pits a few laps after they tangled and spun off.

 

2020 Bahrain GP Preview – The Situation

 

 

Lewis Hamilton returns to Sakhir with the World Driver’s Championship secured, sitting on top of the standings with 307 points and a 110-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who is second on 197 points while Max Verstappen is a further 137 points behind the Briton in third on 170 points.

 

The fight for best-of-the-rest in the driver’s standings continues behind the dominant top three, in the battle for fourth place, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo are split by just four points, while a strong run to the finish by Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Alexander Albon could also bring them back into contention.

 

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport head to Bahrain with the World Constructors Championship wrapped up, in P1 on the standings with 504 points and a 264-point advantage over nearest rivals Aston Martin Red Bull Racing who are second on 240 points, meanwhile BWT Racing Point F1 Team are a further 350 points behind the Silver Arrows in third place on 154 points.

 

With Red Bull Racing set to have second place locked in, the battle for third place in the Constructors heats up. Racing Point (154 points) currently hold the advantage after Sergio Perez claimed second place at the Turkish Grand Prix but McLaren Racing (149 points) remain close behind, whilst Renault F1 Team have the opportunity to bounce back after a tough weekend last time out at Intercity Istanbul Park.

 

Scuderia Ferrari (136 points) are not out of the woods yet, as they have an outside chance from sixth place after scoring 27 points in Turkey, which brought them back into the fight.

 

Third place would be an impressive achievement for others – and provide a significant financial boost, with each of those positions separated by four million in prize money. McLaren last came third in 2012 and Renault back in the 2007 season, whilst the Silverstone-based squad Racing Point have only finished in the top three once, back in 2009, when they were known as Jordan Grand Prix.

 

Ferrari, who have finished second in the past three campaigns, haven’t finished outside the top four since the 1981 World Championship season.

 

Click here for the 2020 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.

 

The Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020 race weekend begins Friday November 27 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday November 28 and the 57 lap Race Sunday November 29.