The 2004 Grand Prix of Bahrain marked the first ever round of the FIA Formula One World Championship to be held in the Middle East and the official culmination of a multi-million dollar project started back in September 2002 when the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a long-term deal to host the event.
Located at Sakhir, 30 km south-west of the island's capital, Manama, the Hermann Tilke designed Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) contains no less than five track layouts within one complex.
Construction began in November 2002 and in the months prior to its March 2004 completion, work was going on around the clock. Over 12,000 tonnes of stone were used in the build, a third of it Welsh granite, chosen for the track surface due to its excellent adhesive qualities.
The original 5.412 km Grand Prix circuit was designed with the spectator in mind, with 50,000 grandstand seats, all providing excellent views.
Those spectators (a total of 100,000 over a race weekend) get to see the cars heading into the external desert area, before coming back into the oasis-styled infield. (Source: Official F1 Website)
Reuters Facts & Stats for Bahrain Grand Prix:
- Round 2 of the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship
- Lap distance: 5.412km. Total distance: 308.238km (57 laps)
- Race lap record: Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) one minute 31.447 seconds, McLaren 2005.
- 2015 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:32.571
- 2015 winner: Hamilton
- Start time: 1500 GMT (1800 local)
- Mercedes have won the last seven races, with Rosberg now chasing his fifth in succession after his victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
- The champions won eight in a row between Italy 2014 and Australia 2015.
- Mercedes won 16 of the 19 races last season, with a record 12 one-two finishes. Ferrari won the other three.
- Hamilton, now a triple world champion, won 10 races in 2015 and 11 in 2014. The Briton has 43 career victories, putting him third in the all-time lists and pushing Ferrari's four times world champion Sebastian Vettel down to fourth with 42.
- Schumacher holds the record of 91, with Alain Prost on 51.
- McLaren's Fernando Alonso has 32 wins, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen 20, McLaren's Jenson Button and Rosberg 15.
- Ferrari have won 224 races in total, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Red Bull 50 and Mercedes 46. McLaren have not won for 58 races, a run that dates back to Brazil 2012.
- Rosberg is leading the championship for the first time since September 2014.
- Hamilton's pole in Melbourne was the 50th of his career, making him only the third driver in history to reach that figure. Michael Schumacher had a record 68 and the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna 65.
- Rosberg's run of six poles in a row ended in Australia.
- Hamilton was on pole 11 times last season, Rosberg seven and Vettel once.
- Vettel has 46 career poles, Rosberg 22.
- Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel shared the podium in nine races last year and were back on the podium again in Australia.
- Hamilton has won in Bahrain for the past two years. Rosberg has yet to win there but has twice started on pole.
- Alonso has won three times at the Sakhir circuit (2005, 2006, 2010), Vettel (2012, 2013) and Felipe Massa (2007, 2008) twice, and Button once (2009).
- This year's race is the 12th edition. The grand prix was first held in 2004 and not run in 2011 due to civil unrest. It switched to a floodlit event in 2014.
- The driver on pole in Bahrain has been the winner in five of the 11 races to date. It has never been won by anyone starting below the front two rows.
- Ten out of 11 winners have been from the team that ended up winning the constructors' title that season. The exception was Alonso for Ferrari in 2010.
- Rosberg made his F1 debut in Bahrain in 2006.
- Romain Grosjean's sixth place for Haas in Australia was the first time since Toyota in 2002 that a completely new team had scored on their debut.
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