Formula One Bahrain History
History - Facts - Winners -Geography - Schedule - Circuit
The name Bahrain means ‘Two Seas’ in Arabic. It derives its name from the fact that there are in Bahrain sweet water springs which come from the middle of the salty sea. Bahrain, became the first Middle Eastern country to host a Formula One Grand Prix in 2004, and it will have the honor of kicking off the 2006 F1 season next March 12.
Bahrain hosted its first Formula One Championship race on April 4, 2004. It was a tough competition between different countries in the region to stage the F1 race: Egypt, Lebanon and UAE all hoping for the prestige of hosting the Formula One.
A number of significant changes have been made to the Formula One regulations: In an attempt to curb the increasing engine power levels of recent years, the maximum engine displacement will be reduced from 3.0 to 2.4 liters and the number of cylinders from 10 to 8.
The switch to smaller engines may not mean a significant decrease in power, however, because some F1 engine suppliers have already indicated that their smaller V8s can rev higher than the 19,000rpms normal for 2005-spec V10s.
Tire changes return to Formula One, with each driver limited to 14 sets of tires, consisting of seven sets of dry-weather tires, four sets of wet-weather tires and three sets of extreme-weather tires.
The Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix like all Grand Prixes, takes place over a period of 3 days. The first day, Friday, is practice day where F1 drivers and teams get to know the circuit and try out different set-ups for the cars. On Saturday, there is for more practice in order to finalize the race set-up for the cars followed by a qualifying session to determine the starting order for the formula one race on Sunday. Only one free practice session will take place on Saturday. It will be one hour in length, and will finish no less than two hours before qualifying, usually between 11.00 and 12.00, replacing the old system of two 45-minute sessions.
Finally on Sunday is F1 race day –all the cars battle it out to win on the only desert track in the world! A Grand Prix Formula One race lasts for about 2 hours depending on the length of the circuit. During the race, each F1 car will make a number of stops these are called “pit stops”. During these pit stops the car will be refueled and minor adjustments can be made to the setup. New rule changes back in 2005 meant that there will be no tire changing during the F1 race (apart from replacing a punctured tire), as each car now has to run the entire race distance on one set of rubber. Additionally, each formula one car must now contest two races with the same engine.
Additionally, a new qualifying system will also be debuted in Bahrain, consisting of three sessions of varying length. A 15-minute session will be held first, in which the six slowest F1 cars from that session are eliminated and thus set in grid positions 17 - 22.
After a five-minute break, another 15-minute session is held with the remaining cars, and again the six slowest cars will be eliminated and set in positions 11 - 16. These 12 drivers that have been eliminated will be placed in parc ferme, with the important distinction that they will be allowed to modify their fuel load.