Formula One heads to Bahrain for the second round of the 2018 season, and the first race of the year to be held under floodlights. Here are all the Bahrain Grand Prix stats you need!
?? BAHRAIN RACE WINNERS
Since the event started in 2004, seven different drivers have won the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel share the most wins at the Sakhir track, each having enjoyed three victories.
Among the 2018 field, Lewis Hamilton is the only driver aside from Alonso and Vettel to have triumphed here. Hamilton won for Mercedes in 2014 and 2015.
Mercedes and Ferrari have the same record number of wins for a team here – three. Renault, McLaren and Red Bull each have two, while Brawn GP took victory in Bahrain in their sole year in the sport.
A driver has won this Grand Prix back-to-back on four occasions in the past. Fernando Alonso became the first back-to-back winner in 2006, before Felipe Massa did it in 2008, and Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton followed suit in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
No driver has ever won more than two races in a row here, but Mercedes took three victories in a row between 2014 and 2016.
The longest run of different winners at this track came between 2008 and 2012, when four different drivers won in as many years. That could be equaled this weekend, if someone other than Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel takes the victory.
The smallest win margin at the Bahrain International Circuit came in the memorable 2014 race, when Lewis Hamilton beat Nico Rosberg to victory by 1.085 seconds. The largest win victory was in 2010, as Fernando Alonso won on his Ferrari début by 16.099 seconds.
The average win margin at this track is 6.066 seconds.
Click for all the information you need for the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend!
?? ON THE PODIUM IN BAHRAIN
Since 2004, fifteen different drivers have stood on the Bahrain Grand Prix podium. Kimi Raikkonen has the most podiums here, with eight, but has never stood on the top step.
There are seven drivers on the 2018 grid who have previously finished on the podium in Bahrain. Aside from Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton has made it to the rostrum on six occasions, while Vettel has sprayed the rosewater four times. Fernando Alonso has had three podium finishes here – all of them being race wins. Other podium finishers in Bahrain are Romain Grosjean with two, and Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who have each amassed one podium finish here thus far.
?? BAHRAIN POLESITTERS
In thirteen runnings of the Bahrain Grand Prix, nine different drivers have taken pole here. Four drivers – Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton – are all tied on the record of two poles here. Vettel and Hamilton have a chance to get a record third pole this weekend, while Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas have the chance to join the Bahrain double pole club.
The team with the most poles at this track are Mercedes. Impressively, they’ve taken every pole at this track since 2013.
Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are the only drivers to have taken back-to-back poles here. No driver has taken more than two in a row.
No one has ever taken a pole by more than half a second at this circuit. The smallest margin came last year, when Valtteri Bottas took his maiden pole by 0.023 seconds from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The largest pole margin was at the second running of the Bahrain Grand Prix, when Fernando Alonso claimed the fastest time by 0.455 seconds.
The average pole margin here is a small 0.218 seconds.
The longest streak of different polesitters in Bahrain came between 2005 and 2010, when six different drivers took pole in as many seasons. All but one of those six poles were with different teams.
?? SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been won from pole on just five occasions, meaning there is a 38% pole to win conversion rate. From the past five races here, the event has been won from pole just once.
Only 69% of race wins here have come from the front row. However, the Grand Prix has never been won from further back than fourth. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have won the Grand Prix from fourth on the grid, in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
Click for the Ultimate Guide to the Bahrain International Circuit!
?? SUNDAY STATS
There has been a Safety Car appearance in just three of the thirteen races held in Bahrain, meaning the likelihood of the Safety Car coming out is 23%.
No race here has had more than one Safety Car period.
Unsurprisingly, given its location in the Sakhir desert, no races here have been affected by rain.
The longest race here came in 2014, when Lewis Hamilton won in a time of 1:39:42.74. The shortest race was the first to be held in Bahrain, in 2004, which clocked in at 1:28:34.88.
The attrition rate here is usually quite low, with seventeen cars seeing the chequered flag on average. The most number of finishers here came in 2013, when 21 of the 22 cars made it to the end. The highest attrition rate was in 2005, when just twelve of the cars finished. Last season, thirteen cars reached the end of the Grand Prix.
There has never been a red-flagged Grand Prix in Bahrain.
?? CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
No champions have been crowned here, but from fourteen seasons, nine of the race winners here have gone on to be crowned that year’s World Champion.
?? MISCELLANEOUS STATS
The 2012 and 2013 Bahrain Grands Prix featured the same three podium finishers – Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean – in the same order.
Got any more Bahrain stats? Let us know in the comments, or tell us on Twitter: @LightsOutF1Blog!
