The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) will host the fourth round of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship on Sunday at 8 a.m. ET.
The Grand Prix has never been won by anyone from beyond the first two rows, but neither has it been particularly favorable to drivers on pole—only three times in seven races has the pole sitter gone on to win the race. It has, however, been a circuit that rewards a strong car, as six out of the seven races have been won by the team that has gone on to win the constructors' championship. The one exception was 2010, though eventual champion Red Bull Racing was leading the race comfortably until a faulty spark plug caused Sebastian Vettel to fall back.
The Grand Prix has never been won by anyone from beyond the first two rows, but neither has it been particularly favorable to drivers on pole—only three times in seven races has the pole sitter gone on to win the race. It has, however, been a circuit that rewards a strong car, as six out of the seven races have been won by the team that has gone on to win the constructors' championship. The one exception was 2010, though eventual champion Red Bull Racing was leading the race comfortably until a faulty spark plug caused Sebastian Vettel to fall back.
Tournament Info:
Event: Formula One World Championship
Name: Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Duration: Friday,20 April - Sunday,22 April, 2012
Final race: 8:00 am (ET), 15:00 (Local), 12:00 (GMT) Sunday, 22 April, 2012
Previous Winner: Fernando Alonso (ESP)-Ferrari
For 2012, F1 is going back to the 5.4-kilomater Grand Prix circuit configuration used in 2009, rather than the 6.3-kilometer Endurance circuit on which it raced in 2010. The revision to the earlier layout cuts out a large slow-speed sector of the track, bringing down the number of corners to 15 from 24.
One peculiarity of racing in the desert is the amount of dust on the circuit. Bahrain sees a great deal of track evolution over the weekend as cars clean the racing line. Another factor with the dust is the amount of attention teams pay to air filtration and monitoring engine wear—ingress of sand or dust into the engine is potentially catastrophic.
The circuit itself is very smooth and doesn't have the harsh curbs seen elsewhere, meaning that teams can set ride heights low but still attack apexes aggressively. This is a heavy braking circuit and calls for unusually high levels of brake cooling. Managing that and providing the right level of traction on the evolving surface are both key technical issues. McLaren goes into this race holding a lead in both championships, but Bahrain has not been a race at which it has prospered in the past, having neither a victory nor a pole position at BIC.
Race Capsule
Sat 21 April 2012
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 22 April 2012
Race 15:00
Race 15:00
The Bahrain International Circuit is located in Sakhir, near the west coast of the island, some 30 kilometers south of the capital, Manama. The circuit covers 170 hectares, and the area has an air force base, a palace, a nature reserve and the main campus of the University of Bahrain.
Fernando Alonso is the most successful driver in Bahrain, with three victories from the seven races held at the circuit. Felipe Massa has two victories, and Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher both have one victory each.
Four times in the seven runnings of the Bahrain Grand Prix the winner in the desert has gone on to claim the F1 drivers' World Championship at the end of the season. Only twice has the defending world champion won the race.
The Bahrain International Circuit has two main pit complexes and six potential layouts. Alongside the Grand Prix and Endurance layouts, there is an Inner Circuit, an Outer Circuit, a Paddock Circuit (as used in the Australian V8 touring car series) and a Flat Oval. It also incorporates a drag strip.
