The main figures from the Bahrain Grand Prix

La F1 regains its rights again this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix which will celebrate its ten years of existence. If this trip has often been criticized given the tensions that animate the kingdom, only the 2011 edition has so far been canceled due to the violence shaking the country. If the organizers do everything to highlight the sport, the arrival of the discipline each time causes a renewal of tensions with an intensification of the demonstrations.

On a sporting level, Fernando Alonso is the most successful on the Sakhir circuit which hosts the winter tests for two weeks. With three victories to his credit (2005 and 2006 with Renault F1 Team and 2010 with Ferrari), the double world champion is ahead of Felipe Massa (2007 and 2008) and Sebastian Vettel. But the Red Bull driver remains undefeated for two years on this track. Jenson Button is the only driver with a victory with Michael Schumacher, the Briton having won in 2009 with Brawn GP while the seven-time world champion won the first edition. The two aforementioned Germans are the only ones to have several poles in Bahrain (2004 and 2006 for Michael Schumacher, 2010 and 2011 for Sebastian Vettel). Robert Kubica scored his only pole there in 2008. The race has never been won by a driver who started beyond the second row of the starting grid. Scuderia Ferrari is the most successful team on the Sakhir circuit with four victories to its name. The stable of Maranello ahead Red Bull Racing and Renault who have two successes each.

To mark its first decade in F1, the organizers chose to hold the race at night. It will be the third country to do so since the Singapore GP has been contested under the spotlight since 2008 while the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix also ends at sunset. Six months of work were necessary to install 495 floodlights around the track, which represents 500km of cables.