The Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend is only a couple of days away, and things are now taking shape in Bahrain International Circuit’s (BIC) Paddock and Formula 1 Pit Lane ahead of the start to racing.
The three-day event showcases the very best of international motorsport with not only Formula 1 roaring out on track, but also the FIA Formula 2 Championship and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.
The weekend’s attractions will be headlined by the highly anticipated 57-lap night race. It will be 14th edition of the sport’s only Formula 1 desert race and the fifth year under floodlights. It also marks the second of 21 Grands Prix on this year’s calendar in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Following the arrivals around the clock of Formula 1 team personnel, officials and several of the sport’s star drivers, their team buildings in the BIC Paddock and the garages along the Formula 1 Pit Lane were in their final stages of setting up.
Preparations are to continue today and they will reach their climax tomorrow, ahead of the start of racing on Friday.
Also hard at work are those competing this weekend in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. Formula 2 will be staging its season-opening round at BIC while the Porsche GT3 Cup will be holding its sixth and final meeting of its 2017/2018 campaign.
Formula 1’s star drivers are eager to get racing going.
Haas pair Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are both looking forward to the overtaking opportunities available at Sakhir track.
“I love driving in Bahrain,” said Grosjean. “I think it’s a really exciting track for racing and overtaking.
“It’s one of those tracks where there are many opportunities to overtake, which is amazing. Obviously there’s turn one, but turn three, turn 11, turn 15 – they all make it probably one of the best circuits for racing.”
Hopes
Magnussen agrees and hopes that such facilities will help them bounce back from a disappointing opening round in Melbourne last month.
“Bahrain is a much better circuit for overtaking than Australia,” Magnussen said. “The track layout is a lot better for racing and overtaking. I’m sure we’ll see an exciting Grand Prix.”
Red Bull Racing duo Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are looking forward to the challenge of making quick adjustments from morning to night racing.
“It’s actually quite a tricky event as the practice sessions are in the heat of the day but the important sessions, qualifying and the race, are in the evening when the track cools so you have to be very adaptive with the set-up,” explained Ricciardo.
Verstappen added: “The weekend is an interesting one as you only have one session to understand how the car behaves under the night race conditions because the other two sessions are during the day, so it’s a bit hot. The track itself is very technical, you have some slow corners and then you end up in some really fast corners which makes it a fun circuit. Driving under the lights is always nice as we don’t get a lot of opportunity throughout the year.”
It won’t be the first time racing at BIC for the Toro Rosso duo of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, but it will be their first Bahrain Grand Prix.
Hartley was successful in Sakhir in previous years while driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as was Gasly during his days in GP2, now Formula 2. Both are hoping that their past triumphs can lead to a positive result this weekend.