Bahrain Grand Prix Live

The Bahrain Grand Prix opens up the season for 2010 as Formula One racing kicks off. This is going to be an exciting year for the sport with a new constructor or two and new drivers participating in the races as well. The Bahrain GP will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sahkir, March 12^th , 13^th and 14^th. You can watch the Bahrain Grand Prix live by getting your membership at any of the banners on this page and signing up to watch high quality video of the starting event for the 2010 season of Formula One Racing.

The race date is March 14^th and the race will be made up of 49 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit which is 6.299 kilometers in length. A total of twenty three turns make up the circuit, and the total distance of the race is 308.405 kilometers. It should be no surprise to anyone that racing sensation Michael Shumacher holds the lap record for this circuit which he got back in 2004, for a lap speed of one minute and thirty point two five two seconds. This circuit is going to be a great one to race on, and a great way to kick off the series.

This race is sponsored by Gulf Air, and it is the first Formula One racing event to be held in the middle east. Egypt and Lebanon as well as the United Arab Emirates were all hoping for a chance to host the racing series but Bahrain fought off the competition and were able to get the contract. The FIA gave the very first race an award for being the most organized Grand Prix of the year. Traditionally this race has been the third of the season held, with the Australian Grand Prix held first. However, the Australian GP was pushed back to avoid a clash with the Commenwealth Games.

The Bahrain International Circuit began in 2002 and by the time it was finished it was so magnificent that it outshone the Kuwait Circuit and became the central circuit for motorsport in the Persian Gulf. The first race was in 2004, and it hosts a whole party of racing events including Formula One, GT Racings, Formula 3 Races as well as the Australian V8 Supercars Series. This year there is a new configuration titled the endurance circuit which will make the laps 6.299 kilomters and will turn left right after turn four.

The event began in 2004 with Michael Shumacher winning the very first race. The next year it was Fernando Alonso who took the highest podium stance, winning again in 2006 which made him go down in history as the first driver to win two races back to back in the middle east. Felipe Massa also has the distinction of winning two races on this circuit and last year it was Jenson Button winning for Brawn GP. You can watch this race live by getting your membership at the banners on this page. Don't miss the Bahrain Grand Prix, March 12^th through the 14^th.

Posted: 24th April 2008

The Bahrain Grand Prix 2009 will begin on April 24^th at the Sakhir Formula One Bahrain International Circuit. This sporting event is looked forward to by spectators and competitors all over the world and considered one of the most exciting international sporting events in racing.

The course is difficult to navigate, with 15 different turns per circuit, the competition compromised of some of the most talented drivers in the world and the race will be 57 laps of white knuckled, intense racing action, as drivers push their cars to the very limit of their endurance at speeds approaching 335      kilometers per hour. Each lap is nearly 5 ½ kilometers of intense turns, and the race is over 308 kilometers total.

If you are wanting to watch it in person, you're probably too late to get your tickets, or get into the circuit, but you can watch it live with your membership at the link above. More than 550 million spectators from all over the world will be watching the formula one race of the year, as the world's most talented drivers compete for the 2009 title. 

The 5^th race at Sakhir took place on April 6^th 2008. The race was comprised of 57 laps, each 5.4 km in length. Last year Team Ferrari took both first and second as Felipe Massa ended the race at 1:31:06 with Kimi Raikkonen coming in just 3.3 seconds later. The BMW Sauber team crossed the finish line just seconds later as Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld took third and fourth place. The course record was set by Michael Shumacher, crossing the finish line in just 1:30.254 in 2004 then retiring just two years later.

This fourth round event, presented by Gulf Air, will kick off on Friday, April 24^th. FIA Formula One, now in the 60^th world championship season boasts a tough and unforgiving track, the best racers in the world and excitement that rarely peaks this high during a sporting event.

Friday opens with two practice sessions – each an hour and a half – with one more hour of practice on Saturday. Finally, qualifying will take place Saturday as well, starting at 1400 hours race time. The race begins on Sunday at 1500 local time.

The Bahrain isn't just the venue for the world championship formula 1 race, but boasts some of the best entertainment of the year such as three groups of five acrobats called Limpopo-Zambezi, Cambridge based funk band Bijoumiyo, as well as stilt walkers, balloon makers and musicians making their way around the race area. 

This year's solid favorite is UK native Jenson Button, who finished 113 races in 2006 finally taking home the win in Hungary. This year he started out strong, winning the first two races of the 2009 season. Another favorite is Ruben Barrichello, who was a runner up in both the 2002 and 2004.   Called the most experienced racer in Formula 1 racing, since Michael Shumacher's retirement in 2006 Barrichello is a close second to Button and are just two of the competitors making the Bahrain something to look forward to this season.

Some other contenders to watch during the race may be Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. Massa had car trouble in China but drove a superb race before that, while Nico Rosberg has been performing extremely well in practices. Keep an eye on Timo Glock as well, as he has already picked up 10 points during the season. Lewis Hamilton talked about the difficulty of the track and the KERS System. “I'm looking forward to Bahrain. It's a circuit I enjoy and I think it should be good for us – the nature of the circuit, the long straights and the heavy braking zones means it is a theoretically strong place for KERS. In fact, it's got the highest brake-wear of the season so far, so it will be interesting to see how well KERS can be exploited around the lap”

New rules were implemented this year for the FIA Formula 1 world championship race, including regulations for the KERS System. Earlier this year Toyota, BMW and Ferrari testers went to the circuit to test the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and the 2009 cars got a major workout as drivers drove the cars to the very limit on the difficult desert circuit. 

The Kinetic Energy Recovery System, known as KERS, is a system that stores the energy that is normally lost during braking within a battery type storage to be used for acceleration later on. The formula 1 regulations restrict cars from delivering no more than 60 Kilowatts, which is about 80 horsepower per usage. The KERS system is generally activated by the driver pressing a button on the steering wheel, although some cars may have the activation button located elsewhere.

The first race was held in 2004 at the Sakhir Bahrain International circuit and the track is 5,411 Kilometers. The layout makes it necessary to brake and accelerate quickly out of the low speed corners. Sakhir has been called the toughest track on tires, but officials are allowing the super soft tires again this year, which, while less durable on the Sakhir circuit, can be managed better according to the data from pre-season tests.

The weather may be a factor in this race, according to officials, and rain has been present at two out of the three Grand Prix races thus far, but at the time of this writing, the forecast was sunny and dry and will hopefully continue until race day.

With just days away from the beginning of the race, now is the time to get your membership to watch the world's most exciting formula one race starting Thursday. The Kingdom of Bahrain has already started filling up with feverish ticket holders anxious to see the racers compete in this 2009 competition.