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The Bahrain Grand Prix is a Formula One Championship race took place for the first time at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the "Best Organized Grand Prix" by the FIA.

Bahrain Grand Prix has usually been the third race of the Formula One calendar. However, in the 2006 season, Bahrain swapped places with the traditional opener, the Australian Grand Prix, which was pushed back to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games.

In 2010, Bahrain staged the opening race of the 2010 season and the cars drove the full 6.299 km (3.914 mi) "Endurance Circuit" to celebrate F1's 'diamond jubilee'.

Since 2014, the race has held as a night race under floodlights. It became the second Formula One night race after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Shortly after the Formula One February 2014 testing, Grand Prix organizers for Bahrain announced a decision to name the first corner of the iconic track after former seven-time champion German driver Michael Schumacher in honor of his achievements.

 

Bahrain Prix, Round three of the 2017 Formula 1 season

 

Circuit Name: Bahrain International Circuit  (Permanent Circuit)

Race Laps: 57

Circuit Length: 5.412 km (3.363 mi)

Race Length: 308.405 km (191.634 mi)

Number of corners: 15 (9 Right, 6 Left)

DRS Zone: Two Zones (Zone 1 between turn 10 and 11, zone 2 at the Start/Finish Line between Turn 15 and 1)

Circuit Direction: Clockwise

Pole Position 2016: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 1:29.493

Track Record: 1:31.447 – Pedro de la Rosa, Mclraen-Mercedes 2005

 

Pirelli used compounds

For the first 5 round of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Pirelli will supply all teams with the same sets of compounds, following the introduction on the new wider and bigger tires.

Compounds sets will be as follows:

7 of the softest (P Zero Red Super-soft here)

5 of the middle (Zero Yellow Soft here)

2 of the Hardest (P Zero White Medium here)

 

Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:

One set of P Zero Yellow soft

One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft

 

Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:                     

One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft

THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING

“The biggest gains at Sakhir are all to be found in traction: it is quite a stop-start circuit, so getting the power down properly and keeping the rear tyres in good condition is very important. Last year we found quite a high degree of wear and degradation, so it will be interesting to see how this has changed with the introduction of our 2017-specification tyres. The second free practice session will be particularly important, as it is the only one held in representative conditions of qualifying and the race.”

 

Bahrain Grand Prix Winners 2004 – 2016

 

Year

Driver

Constructor

Configuration

2016

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit

2015

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2013

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2012

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2011

Not held

2010

 Fernando Alonso

Ferrari

Sakhir Endurance Circuit

2009

 Jenson Button

Brawn-Mercedes

Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit

2008

 Felipe Massa

Ferrari

2007

 Felipe Massa

Ferrari

2006

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2005

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2004

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

 

Multiple Winners (Drivers)

 

# of wins

Driver

Years

3

 Fernando Alonso

2005, 2006, 2010

2

 Felipe Massa

2007, 2008

 Sebastian Vettel

2012, 2013

 Lewis Hamilton

2014, 2015

 

Multiple Winners (Constructors)

 

# of wins

Constructor

Years

4

 Ferrari

2004, 2007, 2008, 2010

 

 Mercedes

2014, 2015, 2016

2

 Renault

2005, 2006

 Red Bull

2012, 2013

 

Numbers and Facts

Most wins (driver) 3 Alonso 2005 – 2006 – 2010

Most wins (constructor) 4 Ferrari 2004 – 2007 – 2008 – 2010

Wins from pole position 5 Most recent 2015 (Hamilton – Mercedes)

Lowest grid for past winner 4 Alonso 2006 and Button 2009

Most recent 1-2 finish 2014 Hamilton – Rosberg (Mercedes)

Most emphatic win (here) 16.099s 2010 (Alonso – Massa)

Closest winning margin 1.085s 2014 (Hamilton – Rosberg)

Rain-affected races 1, 2004

Safety Car-affected races 2, 2007 – 2014

Red Flag (and result declared) races 0

2-hour rule shortened races 0

Fastest race 2004, 57 laps@ 1hr 28m 34.875

Slowest race (here) 2014 57 laps @ 1hr 35m 42.743

Most pole positions (driver) 2 Michael Schumacher (2004 – 2006), Sebastian Vettel (2010 – 2011) Nico Rosberg (2013 – 2014) and Lewis Hamilton (2015 – 2016)

Most pole positions (constructor) 4 Mercedes (2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016) 

What Happened last race here?

The race was the second round of the 2016 season and marked the twelfth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

Lewis Hamilton was the defending race winner, while his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg was the Drivers' Championship leader coming into the round.

During qualifying, which saw the second iteration of the heavily criticised "elimination format", Hamilton achieved pole position ahead of Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Rosberg won the race from Kimi Raikkonen, with Hamilton completing the podium.

2016 Race Classification

Year

Driver

Constructor

Configuration

2016

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit

2015

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2013

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2012

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2011

Not held

2010

 Fernando Alonso

Ferrari

Sakhir Endurance Circuit

2009

 Jenson Button

Brawn-Mercedes

Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit

2008

 Felipe Massa

Ferrari

2007

 Felipe Massa

Ferrari

2006

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2005

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2004

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

 

Did you know?

DRIVERS

Sebastian Vettel has only taken pole once for Ferrari, in Singapore 2015

Vettel has still not won back-to-back Grand Prix since he won the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. That race ended a 9-race run of victories that started in Belgium, (BEL, ITA,

SIN, KOR, JAP, IND, ABU, USA, BRA)

Lewis Hamilton is just 5 pole positions from equalling Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 68 F1 GP pole positions. Since he has been at Mercedes he has taken

pole 37 times already. That is over 40% of all races he’s started for the team (37/ 80 = 46.3%). He is also just 2 behind Ayrton Senna’s (second-best) career total of 65 pp’s

Hamilton in Bahrain can beat Alain Prost’s 106 F1 podiums. Only Michael Schumacher has achieved more podiums (155)

Hamilton has won (54) 28.4% of all GP he’s started (190) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. This is how he compares:-

  1. Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 28.4% 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2% 7. Prost 25.6% 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. S. Moss 24.2%
  2. Vettel 23.9% (43/ 180)

Hamilton has now led 101 different F1 Grand Prix races. Only Michael Schumacher has led more (142)

Before Valtteri Bottas Hamilton has had 4 different teammates in F1. Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. Of the 4 Alonso is now the only one left racing in F1

Bottas has scored more F1 points (434) than team boss Niki Lauda (420.5)

China marked the 125th F1 event he has taken part in, since Kimi Raikkonen last took pole position (France 2008)

Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the Mexican driver with the most F1 podiums (currently =1 with Pedro Rodriguez on 7)

Romain Grosjean will be 31 on Monday 17th April

 

BHRAIN GRAND PRIX

Only Fernando Alonso has won more than 2 Bahrain Grand Prix. Either one of Felipe Massa, Hamilton or Vettel could join him on 3 wins this weekend

Michael Schumacher, Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Hamilton share the all-time record of 2 Bahrain Grand Prix pole positions. Could either Hamilton or Vettel take the record

outright this weekend? Massa or Alonso could equal the record if either one of them takes pole

Here in Bahrain 10 years ago, Hamilton made the first of his 107 F1 front row starts to date, (P2 alongside Massa. He finished 2nd too in the race behind Massa)

 

CONSTRUCTORS

Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events  in 2016

Mercedes in Bahrain will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 48th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams

93.9% of all Mercedes’s wins to date have come from front row starts (61/ 65)

China was venue for Mercedes’s 150th F1 World Championship race start as a constructor

China was the venue for Mercedes’s 75th F1 World Championship pole position as a constructor

Red Bull’s podium in China made it 100 Grand Prix at which at least 1 of their drivers has featured on the race podium

The current Williams team traces its origins back to the setting up of Williams Grand Prix Engineering by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977. This year the team will

be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve and became a constructor in 1978 running a single FW06 car for Alan

Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed

Williams’s first driver’s and first constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with

De Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and ex-works Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until Williams teamed up with Head and started a new team all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off

Williams has not led a Grand Prix since leading the British Grand Prix 18 months ago

China was the 50th race since McLaren led at least a lap of a Grand Prix (Hungary 2014)

 

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

Mercedes looking for a fifth Bahrain pole in a row and a fourth Bahrain Grand Prix victory in a row. Nobody else has managed more than 2 Bahraini poles or 2 Bahrain

Grand Prix victories in a row. A Mercedes win would equal the all-time record of wins currently held by Ferrari (4). Mercedes already hold the all-time record for poles (4)

Pole for Ferrari would equal Mercedes’s all-time record (4). Until Hamilton’s pole last year the two constructors shared the record. Can Ferrari get it back?

Ferrari has scored a record 11 podiums to date in Bahrain. It is nearly double that of the next-best podium score (Mercedes – 6). Ferrari has also led more Bahrain Grand

Prix than any other constructor (7). Next-best is Red Bull and Mercedes who have each led 4 Bahrain Grand Prix to date

Mercedes has put both of their drivers on the Bahrain Grand Prix podium for the past 3 seasons. Ferrari is the only other constructor to have scored a double-podium

result here in successive seasons and then ‘only’ 2 years’ running. The Scuderia managed to do so in 2007 and 2008

 

Driver’s Championship standing

Pos.

Driver

Constructor

Points

1

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

43

2

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

43

3

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer

25

4

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

23

5

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari

22

6

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer

12

7

Carlos Sainz

Toro Rosso

10

8

Felipe Massa

Williams-Mercedes

8

9

Sergio Perez

Force India-Mercedes

8

10

Kevin Magnussen

Haas-Ferrari

4

11

 Daniil Kvyat

Toro Rosso

2

12

Esteban Ocon

Force India-Mercedes

2

13

Nico Hulkenberg

Renault

0

14

Romain Grosjean

Haas-Ferrari

0

15

Antonio Giovinazzi

Sauber-Ferrari

0

16

Stoffel Vandoorne

McLaren-Honda

0

17

Jolyon Palmer

Renault

0

18

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber-Ferrari

0

 

Constructor’s Championship standing

Pos

Constructor

Points

1

Mercedes

66

2

Ferrari

65

3

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

37

4

Toro Rosso

12

5

Force India-Mercedes

10

6

Williams-Mercedes

8

7

Haas-Ferrari

4

8

Renault

0

9

Sauber-Ferrari

0

10

McLaren-Honda

0

 

Driver’s penalty points:

Driver

Penalty points

Daniil Kvyat

8

Jolyon Palmer

7

Sebastian Vettel

6

Nico Hulkenberg

6

Carlos Sainz

5

Pascal Wehrlein

4

Kevin Magnussen

4

Esteban Ocon

4

Sergio Perez

3

Romain Grosjean

3

Valtteri Bottas

2

Kimi Raikkonen

2

Marcus Erricson

2

Felipe Massa

2

Max Verstappen

1

 

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The Australian Grand Prix is oldest surviving motor racing competition held annually in Australia, having been held 79 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928.

Since 1985, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship and is currently held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Prior to its inclusion in the World Championship, it was held at a multitude of venues in every state of Australia.

After it became a part of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1985, it was held at the Adelaide Street Circuit in (South Australia) from that year to 1995, before moving to Melbourne in 1996 and the latter circuit is currently under contract to host Formula 1 until 2023.

Australian driver Lex Davison and German driver Michael Schumacher are the most successful drivers in the 86-year history of the event taking four wins each; while McLaren has been the most successful constructor with twelve victories, its success stretching back into the pre-Formula One history of the race as is scored its first win in 1970.

Frenchman Alain Prost is the only driver to win the Australian Grand Prix in both non-championship and World Championship formats, having won the race in 1982, 1986, and again in 1988.

Australian Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2017 Formula 1 season

 

Circuit Name: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit – Street Cicuit

Race Laps: 58

Circuit Length: 5.303 km (3.295 mi)

Race Length: 307.574 km (191.071 mi)

Number of corners: 16 (10 Right, 6 Left)

DRS Zone: Two Zones (Zone 1between turn 2 and 3, zone 2 Start/Finish Line between Turn 16 and 1)

Circuit Direction: Clockwise

Pole Position 2016: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 1:23.837

Lap record: 1:24.125 – Michael Schumacher, Ferrari 2004

 

Melbourne Circuit

 

 

Pirelli used compounds

For the first 5 round of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Pirelli will supply all teams with the same sets of compounds, following the introduction on the new wider and bigger tires.

 

Compounds sets will be as follows:

7 of the softest (P Zero Purple ultrasoft here)

5 of the middle (P Zero Red supersoft  here)

2 of the Hardest (P Zero Yellow soft  here)

 

Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:

One set of P Zero White medium 
One set of P Zero Yellow soft

Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:   

P Zero Purple ultrasoft here                  

THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:

A semi-permanent track: always ‘green’ and dirty at the start of the weekend.

Hard acceleration and braking: longitudinal forces are greater than lateral ones.

Lots of slow corners: emphasis on mechanical grip and high downforce.

Left-rear tyre is worked hardest.

Anything can happen with the weather: from bright sunshine to torrential rain.

Reasonably smooth asphalt, so tyre wear and degradation is comparatively low.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING

“The teams completed 7427 laps of Barcelona during pre-season testing, using all the compounds but concentrating on the medium and soft tyres, which were the ones best suited to Montmeló. In Melbourne, it's going to be interesting to collect more data on the ultrasoft and supersoft compounds, which we’ve not been able to fully assess up to now.”

MELBOURNE MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES (SLICKS)

22 psi (fronts) – 19.5 psi (rears)

Australian Grand Prix Winners 1985 – 2016

Year

Driver

Constructor

Circuit

2016

 Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

Albert Park

2015

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

 Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

2013

 Kimi Räikkönen

Lotus-Renault

2012

 Jenson Button

McLaren-Mercedes

2011

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2010

 Jenson Button

McLaren-Mercedes

2009

 Jenson Button

Brawn-Mercedes

2008

 Lewis Hamilton

McLaren-Mercedes

2007

 Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

2006

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2005

 Giancarlo Fisichella

Renault

2004

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2003

 David Coulthard

McLaren-Mercedes

2002

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2001

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2000

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

1999

 Eddie Irvine

Ferrari

1998

 Mika Häkkinen

McLaren-Mercedes

1997

 David Coulthard

McLaren-Mercedes

1996

 Damon Hill

Williams-Renault

1995

 Damon Hill

Williams-Renault

Adelaide

1994

 Nigel Mansell

Williams-Renault

1993

 Ayrton Senna

McLaren-Ford

1992

 Gerhard Berger

McLaren-Honda

1991

 Ayrton Senna

McLaren-Honda

1990

 Nelson Piquet

Benetton-Ford

1989

 Thierry Boutsen

Williams-Renault

1988

 Alain Prost

McLaren-Honda

1987

 Gerhard Berger

Ferrari

1986

 Alain Prost

McLaren-TAG

1985

 Keke Rosberg

Williams-Honda


Multiple Winners
(Drivers)

Number of wins

Driver

Years Won

4

 Michael Schumacher

2000, 2001, 2002, 2004

3

 Jenson Button

2009, 2010, 2012

2

 Alain Prost

1986, 1988

 Gerhard Berger

1987, 1992

 Ayrton Senna

1991, 1993

 Damon Hill

1995, 1996

 David Coulthard

1997, 2003

Kimi Raikkonen

2007, 2013

Lewis Hamilton

2008, 2015

Nico Rosberg

2014, 2016

 

Multiple Winners (Constructors)

 

Wins

Constructor

Years Won

11

 McLaren

1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012

7

 Ferrari

1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007

5

 Williams

1985, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996

3

 Mercedes

2014, 2015, 2016

2

 Renault

2005, 2006

 

Numbers and Facts

 

Most wins (driver) 4 Michael Schumacher (2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2004)

Most wins (constructor) 11 McLaren (1986 – 1988 – 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1997 – 1998 – 2003 – 2008 – 2010 – 2012)

Wins from pole position 14 Most recent 2015 (Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes)

Lowest grid for past winner 11 David Coulthard 2003

Most recent 1-2 finish 2016 Nico Rosberg – Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes

Most emphatic win (here) 38.020s, 1996 between Damon Hill – Jacques Villeneuve

Closest winning margin 0.702s,1997 between Mika Hakkinen – David Coulthard

Rain-affected races 3, 1989 – 1991 – 2010

Safety Car-affected races 12, 1999 – 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2006 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016

Red Flag (and result declared) races 1, 1991 race stopped and result declared after 14 laps (race Red Flagged in 2016 but restarted)

Fastest race 1991 14 laps @ 24’34.899

Slowest race (here) 2016 57 laps @1:48’15.565

Most pole positions (driver) 6 Ayrton Senna (1985 – 1988 – 1989 – 1990 – 1991 – 1993)

Most pole positions (constructor) 10 McLaren (1988 – 1989 – 1991 – 1993 – 1998 – 1999 – 2000 – 2008 – 2012)

 

What Happened last race here?

Hamilton took the first pole position of the season and the fiftieth of his career in a qualifying session that saw the introduction of a new one-by-one elimination format that was widely criticised.

His teammate Nico Rosberg took victory ahead of Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

At the end of the formation lap, Daniil Kvyat was unable to reach the grid due to an electrical issue. Therefore, the field went to another formation lap and the race was shortened accordingly to 57 laps. Later, the race was stopped on lap 18 following an accident involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez.

Mercedes used the break for a change of tyres that allowed their drivers to take a 1–2 finish after Vettel had initially led the race from the start. Romain Grosjean finished sixth, scoring points for the Haas F1 team on their début, the first completely new team to do so since 2002.

2016 Race Classification

Pos.

Driver

Constructor

Time/Retired

Grid

1

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

1:48:15.565

2

2

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

+8.06

1

3

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

+9.643

3

4

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

+24.33

8

5

Felipe Massa

Williams-Mercedes

+58.979

6

6

Romain Grosjean

Haas-Ferrari

+1:12.081

19

7

Nico Hülkenberg

Force India-Mercedes

+1:14.199

10

8

Valtteri Bottas

Williams-Mercedes

+1:15.153

16

9

Carlos Sainz, Jr.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

+1:15.680

7

10

Max Verstappen

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

+1:16.833

5

11

Jolyon Palmer

Renault

+1:23.399

13

12

Kevin Magnussen

Renault

+1:25.606

14

13

Sergio Pérez

Force India-Mercedes

+1:31.699

9

14

Jenson Button

McLaren-Honda

+1 Lap

12

15

Felipe Nasr

Sauber-Ferrari

+1 Lap

17

16

Pascal Wehrlein

MRT-Mercedes

+1 Lap

21

Ret

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber-Ferrari

Transmission

15

Ret

Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

Turbo

4

Ret

Rio Haryanto

MRT-Mercedes

Driveshaft

22

Ret

Esteban Gutiérrez

Haas-Ferrari

Collision

20

Ret

Fernando Alonso

McLaren-Honda

Collision

11

DNS

Daniil Kvyat

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

Electrical

 

 

Did you know?

DRIVERS

✪ Nico Rosberg qualified either on pole or P2 for every race in 2016. He was the first driver to qualify on the front row for all races in a season since Damon Hill in 1996

✪ Lewis Hamilton is just 7 pole positions from equalling Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 68 F1 GP pole positions. Since he has been at Mercedes he has taken

pole 35 times already. That is over 40% of all races he’s started for the team (35/ 78 = 44.9%)

✪ In the 78 events that Hamilton and Rosberg were Mercedes teammates they locked-out the front row 44 times (56.4%)

✪ Hamilton has won (53) 28.2% of all GP he’s started (188) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. This is how he compares: 1. Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 28.2% 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2% 7. Prost 25.6% 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. S. Moss 24.2% 10. Vettel 23.6% (42/ 178)

✪ If Hamilton can lead at least 1 race lap on Sunday the 2017 Australian Grand Prix will be the 100th race he will have led in his 10 year-long F1 career

✪ Before Valtteri Bottas Hamilton has had 4 different teammates in F1. Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. Of the 4 Alonso is now the only one left racing in F1

✪ Daniel Ricciardo has now scored more F1 Championship points than Ayrton Senna (616: 614). Last season, he and Rosberg were the only drivers to qualify for Q3 for

all 21 races

✪ Sebastian Vettel has only taken pole once for Ferrari, in Singapore 2015

✪ Vettel’s fastest lap award in Abu Dhabi was the 78th of his F1 career and = Jim Clark

✪ Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the Mexican driver with the most F1 podiums (currently =1 with Pedro Rodriguez on 7)

✪ Stoffel Vandoorne celebrates his 25th birthday on race day, 26th March

 

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

 

✪ Hamilton is the only race winner in Australia to have started from pole position in the last 5 years (2015)

✪ It remains a fact that after 32 F1 World Championship Grand Prix to date an Australian driver has still to finish on the podium for his home race. The best results to date

for an Australian in either Adelaide or Melbourne are 4th by Mark Webber in 2012 and also by Daniel Ricciardo last year. What price a ‘shooey’ on Sunday?

✪ Vettel when he’s finished the race has only once (in 2009) failed to finish on the podium

CONSTRUCTORS

Mercedes in Australia will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 48th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams

93.75% of all Mercedes’s wins to date have come from front row starts (60/ 64)

Mercedes in Abu Dhabi extended the record for the most poles in a single season to 20

The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the 150th F1 win for Mercedes engines in F1 (please don’t say 150th win for Brixworth because the race-winning engines in the

1950’s were made in Germany)

Mercedes finish 1-2 in the US, in Mexico, in Brazil and in Abu Dhabi in 2016 just as they managed to do in 2015. They also finished 1-2 in Australia last season. Can they

do so again? If they do it will also be the 3rd year in a row that Mercedes will have finished the Australian Grand Prix 1st and 2nd

In 2016, Mercedes led 1,055 race laps, a record for a F1 season. The only other constructor to have led 1,000 laps or more in a season is McLaren in 1988 (1,003). The

2016 season coincidentally was the 40th anniversary of the first time the F1 World Championship was competed over 1,000 race laps or more (1976 – 1,030)

If Red Bull can score a podium in Australia it will be the 100th Grand Prix at which at least 1 of their drivers has featured on the race podium

Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events

The current Williams team traces its origins back to the setting up of Williams Grand Prix Engineering by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977. This year the team will

be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve and became a constructor in 1978 running a single FW06 car for Alan

Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed

Williams’s first driver’s and constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with De

Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and ex-works Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until Williams teamed up with Head and started a new team all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off

Williams has not led a Grand Prix since leading the British Grand Prix 18 months ago

 

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Mercedes chasing a 4th Australian Grand Prix win in a row to equal the record for consecutive wins set by Ferrari 1999 – 2002. Additionally, the team is looking to finish

the race first and second for the 3rd year in a row. Mercedes is already the only team to have finished first and second in Australia in consecutive seasons

Red Bull has failed to start one of its two cars here for the past 2 years

 

 

Driver’s penalty points:

Driver

Penalty points

Daniil Kvyat

8

Sebastian Vettel

6

Carlos Sainz Jr

5

Valtteri Bottas

4

Pascal Wehrlein

4

Kevin Magnussen

4

Esteban Ocon

4

Jolyon Palmer

4

Sergio Perez

3

Kimi Raikkonen

2

Nico Hulkenberg

2

Marcus Erricson

2

Felipe Massa

2

Max Verstappen

1

 

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The Chinese Grand Prix is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The track features one of the trickiest corners combinations on the Formula One calendar, comparable to that of Istanbul Park's turn 8, also designed by Tilke. Turn 1 and 2 are a very demanding 270 degree, right-handed corner combination that requires a lot of speed whilst entering and it tightens up towards the end.

 

Chinese Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2017 Formula 1 season

 

Circuit Name: Shanghai International Circuit (Permanent Circuit)

Race Laps: 56

Circuit Length: 5.451 km (3.387 mi)

Race Length: 305.066 km (189.559 mi)

Number of corners: 16 (9 Right, 7 Left)

DRS Zone: Two Zones (Zone 1 Between turn 13 and 14, zone 2 at the Start/Finish Line Between Turn 16 and 1)

Circuit Direction: Clockwise

Pole Position 2015: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 1:35.782

Track Record: Michael Scumacher – Ferrari 2004 (Pole): 1”35.782.

 

Pirelli used compounds

For the first 5 round of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Pirelli will supply all teams with the same sets of compounds, following the introduction on the new wider and bigger tires.

Compounds sets will be as follows:

7 of the softest (P Zero Red supersoft here)

5 of the middle (Zero Yellow Soft here)

2 of the Hardest (P Zero White Medium here)

Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:

One set of P Zero Yellow soft

One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft

 

Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:                     

One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft

THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING

“We’re bringing the middle selection of compounds, but we expect teams to use mainly soft and supersoft, depending of course on the unpredictable weather: especially as the allocation is just two sets of medium. In the past, there has been some graining in China due to the long straights followed by tight corners, but we’ve seen in Barcelona testing that graining is generally reduced this year, so it will be good to have that confirmed. In case of wet and possibly cool conditions, we will supply wet weather tyres in a different compound, with the target of giving the drivers more grip.” 

Chinese Grand Prix Winners 2004 – 2016

 

Year

Driver

Constructor

2016

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

2015

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2013

 Fernando Alonso

Ferrari

2012

 Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

2011

 Lewis Hamilton

McLaren-Mercedes

2010

 Jenson Button

McLaren-Mercedes

2009

 Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull-Renault

2008

 Lewis Hamilton

McLaren-Mercedes

2007

 Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

2006

 Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2005

 Fernando Alonso

Renault

2004

 Rubens Barrichello

Ferrari

 

Multiple Winners (Drivers)

 

# Wins

Driver

Years Won

4

Lewis Hamilton

2008, 2011, 2014, 2015

2

Fernando Alonso

2005, 2013

Nico Rosberg

2012, 2016

 

Multiple Winners (Constructors)

 

# Wins

Constructor

Years Won

4

Ferrari

2004, 2006, 2007, 2013

Mercedes

2012, 2014, 2015, 2016

3

McLaren

2008, 2010, 2011

 

Numbers and Facts

 

Most wins (driver) 4 Lewis Hamilton 2008 – 2011 – 2014 – 2015

Most wins (constructor) 4 Ferrari 2004 – 2006 – 2007 – 2013 and Mercedes 2012 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016

Wins from pole position 8 2004 – 2005 – 2008 – 2009 – 2012 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016

Lowest grid for past winner 6 Michael Schumacher – 2006

Most recent 1-2 finish 2015 Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg

Most emphatic win (here) 37.776 2016 – Nico Rosberg-Sebastian Vettel

Closest winning margin 0.714 2015 – Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg

Rain-affected races 4 2006 – 2007 – 2009 – 2010

Safety Car-affected races 5 2005 – 2009 – 2010 – 2015 – 2016

Red Flag (and result declared) races 0

2-hour rule shortened races 0

Fastest race 2004 56 laps @ 1hr 29m 12.420s

Slowest race (here) 2009 56 laps @ 1hr 57m 43.485s

Most pole positions (driver) 5 Lewis Hamilton 2007 – 2008 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015

Most pole positions (constructor) 5 Mercedes 2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016

 

What Happened last race here?

The race was the third round of the 2016 season, and marked the thirteenth time that the Chinese Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

The race was convincingly won by Nico Rosberg, who finished over 30 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel.

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton suffered a number of setbacks both in qualifying and during the race itself, eventually finishing in 7th place.

This was the first race in which all cars were classified as finishers since the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.

2016 Race Classification

Pos.

Driver

Constructor

Time/Retired

Grid

1

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

1:38:53.891

1

2

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

+37.776

4

3

Daniil Kvyat

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

+45.936

6

4

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

+52.688

2

5

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari

+1:05.872

3

6

Felipe Massa

Williams-Mercedes

+1:15.511

10

7

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

+1:18.230

22

8

Max Verstappen

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

+1:19.268

9

9

Carlos Sainz Jr.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

+1:24.127

8

10

Valtteri Bottas

Williams-Mercedes

+1:26.192

5

11

Sergio Pérez

Force India-Mercedes

+1:34.283

7

12

Fernando Alonso

McLaren-Honda

+1:37.253

11

13

Jenson Button

McLaren-Honda

+1:41.990

12

14

Esteban Gutiérrez

Haas-Ferrari

+1 Lap

18

15

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India-Mercedes

+1 Lap

13

16

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber-Ferrari

+1 Lap

15

17

Kevin Magnussen

Renault

+1 Lap

17

18

Pascal Wehrlein

MRT-Mercedes

+1 Lap

21

19

Romain Grosjean

Haas-Ferrari

+1 Lap

14

20

Felipe Nasr

Sauber-Ferrari

+1 Lap

16

21

Rio Haryanto

MRT-Mercedes

+1 Lap

20

22

Jolyon Palmer

Renault

+1 Lap

19

 

Did you know?

DRIVERS

Sebastian Vettel has only taken pole once for Ferrari, in Singapore 2015

Vettel has not won back-to-back Grand Prix since he won the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. That race ended a 9-race run of victories that started in Belgium, (BEL, ITA, SIN,

KOR, JAP, IND, ABU, USA, BRA)

Lewis Hamilton is just 6 pole positions from equalling Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 68 F1 GP pole positions. Since he has been at Mercedes he has taken

pole 36 times already. That is over 40% of all races he’s started for the team (36/ 79 = 45.6%)

Hamilton in China can = Alain Prost’s 106 F1 podiums. Only Michael Schumacher has achieved more podiums (155)

Hamilton has won (53) 28.0% of all GP he’s started (189) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. This is how he compares:-

  1. Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 28.0% 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2% 7. Prost 25.6% 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. S. Moss 24.2%
  2. Vettel 24.0% (43/ 179)

Hamilton has now led 100 different F Grand Prix races

Before Valtteri Bottas Hamilton has had 4 different teammates in F1. Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. Of the 4 Alonso is now the

only one left racing in F1

Bottas has now scored more F1 points (426) than team boss Niki Lauda (420.5)

China could mark the 125th F1 event he has taken part in, since Kimi Raikkonen last took pole position (France 2008)

Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the Mexican driver with the most F1 podiums (currently =1 with Pedro Rodriguez on 7)

Perez after Australia now has the longest current run of points-scoring finishes of any of the F1 drivers (11 races). The all-time record is 27 by Raikkonen

Australia marked the 100th F1 event that Nico Hulkenberg has competed in since he took his first and only to date, F1 pole position (Brazil 2010)

 

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Only Lewis Hamilton has won more than 2 Chinese Grand Prix. He has won the race 4 times to date

If Hamilton leads this year’s race he will have led more Chinese Grand Prix (7) than any other driver. The current record of 6 races led is shared by Hamilton and Jenson

Button

 

CONSTRUCTORS

Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events

It is now a fact that both Ferrari drivers scored their most recent F1 wins in Australia; Vettel two week’s ago and Kimi Raikkonen (for Lotus) in 2013

Mercedes in China will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 48th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams

93.75% of all Mercedes’s wins to date have come from front row starts (60/ 64)

China will be venue for Mercedes’s 150th F1 World Championship race start as a constructor

China could be the venue for Mercedes’s 75th F1 World Championship pole position as a constructor

If Red Bull can score a podium in China it will be the 100th Grand Prix at which at least 1 of their drivers has featured on the race podium

The current Williams team traces its origins back to the setting up of Williams Grand Prix Engineering by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977. This year the team will

be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve and became a constructor in 1978 running a single FW06 car for Alan

Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed

Williams’s first driver’s and first constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with

De Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and ex-works Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until

Williams teamed up with Head and started a new team all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off

Williams has not led a Grand Prix since leading the British Grand Prix 18 months ago

China could be the 50th race since McLaren led at least a lap of a Grand Prix (Hungary 2014)

 

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Mercedes is chasing an unprecedented 4th Chinese Grand Prix win in a row. They already hold the outright record having won consecutively the last 3 races here (2014,

2015 and 2016). Nobody else has won more than 2 in a row (Ferrari 2006 and 2007 and McLaren, 2010 and 2011)

Ferrari and Mercedes share the record for most Chinese Grand Prix wins (4). Clearly a 5th win for either constructor will take the all-time record outright. I should point out

however, that a win for McLaren would equal Ferrari and Mercedes’s record

Mercedes is also chasing a 6th Chinese Grand Prix pole position in a row (5 in a row to date being 2012 through 2016). Nobody else has managed more than 3 in a row in

China (Red Bull 2009 through 2011)

Driver’s Championship standing

Pos.

Driver

Constructor

Points

1

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

25

2

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

18

3

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

15

4

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari

12

5

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer

10

6

Felipe Massa

Williams-Mercedes

8

7

Sergio Perez

Force India-Mercedes

6

8

Carlos Sainz, Jr.

Toro Rosso

4

9

 Daniil Kvyat

Toro Rosso

2

10

Nico Hulkenberg

Renault

1

11

Esteban Ocon

Force India-Mercedes

0

12

Antonio Giovinazzi

Sauber-Ferrari

0

13

Stoffel Vandoorne

McLaren-Honda

0

 

Constructor’s Championship standing

1

Ferrari

37

2

Mercedes

33

3

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

10

4

Williams-Mercedes

8

5

Force India-Mercedes

7

6

Toro Rosso

6

7

Renault

0

8

Sauber-Ferrari

0

9

McLaren-Honda

0

 

Driver’s penalty points:

Driver

Penalty points

Daniil Kvyat

8

Sebastian Vettel

6

Carlos Sainz Jr

5

Pascal Wehrlein

4

Kevin Magnussen

4

Esteban Ocon

4

Jolyon Palmer

4

Sergio Perez

3

Valtteri Bottas

2

Kimi Raikkonen

2

Nico Hulkenberg

2

Marcus Erricson

2

Felipe Massa

2

Max Verstappen

1

Romain Grosjean

 

Lewis Hamilton

 

Fernando Alonso

 

Jenson Button

 

 

What is new for 2017 WRC sporting regulations?

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Throughout the course of last year, the World Motor Sport Council approved a number of changes to the Sporting Regulations for the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship.

The main amendments are as follows:

Only drivers entered by registered manufacturers are eligible to drive 2017 World Rally Cars, with the approval of the FIA.

A manufacturer may nominate a minimum of two and maximum of three cars for the purpose of scoring points in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Scores from the two best cars in the final classification will amass points in this Championship. Additional cars may be entered by a manufacturer but will not be eligible to score points in the Manufacturers’ Championship. 

To provide the opportunity for more drivers to be nominated, a manufacturer will not be required to nominate the first driver in its team. Nominations will however still be required by the closing date of entries for each event.

In the interest of fairness, the start order for World Championship rallies has been amended and is now based purely on performance:

Day 1: All cars start according to the actual Championship classification
Day 2: P1 drivers start in the reverse order of the actual rally classification after day 1. Other drivers start in the order of the rally classification
Day 3: P1 drivers start in the reverse order of the actual rally classification after day 2. Other drivers start in the order of the rally classification.
P1 drivers re-starting in Rally 2 will start at the end of the P1 group.

The number of additional points available in the Power Stage has been amended to reward the top five fastest drivers and co-drivers. Points will be awarded on a scale of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Manufacturers are no longer required to nominate one tyre supplier for the season. As such, a different brand of tyres could be used event by event or on different cars within one team. 

An FIA WRC Trophy has been created for drivers and co-drivers participating in pre-2017 specification World Rally Cars. The maximum number of qualifying rallies is seven and the driver and co-driver who have scored the highest total of points in six of the qualifying rallies will win the titles. If less than five competitors register, no titles will be awarded.

In order to be classified in the final classification at the end of the season, WRC 2 competitors must have taken part in the mandatory rallies in Portugal (19-21 May), Germany (18-20 August) and Great Britain (27-29 October). Except in force majeure, non-participation in any of these three events will result in exclusion from the respective support championship classification and points will not be redistributed.

M-Sport is the supplier of Fiesta R2 cars to the FIA Junior WRC Championship for 2017 and 2018. The six events in the 2017 calendar are the rallies in France, Italy, Poland, Finland, Germany and Spain.

Priority 1 status will be reserved for drivers of World Rally Cars either entered by a registered manufacturer or entered in the FIA WRC Trophy. Priority 2 will continue to be for drivers eligible to score points in the FIA WRC 2 Championship and Priority 3 for those in the WRC 3 and Junior WRC Championship categories.

 

There is no longer an obligation for organisers to have 25% of the route competitive. The total distance of special stages does however remain at between 300-500 kilometres.

In 2017, each rally organiser must attain the middle level of Environmental Accreditation - Progress Towards Excellence - before the end of the season. From 2018, the top level of accreditation - Achievement of Excellence - must be achieved at least four months before the event is scheduled to run.

In order to allow media activities, the reconnaissance must be finished before 17:00 hrs on the Wednesday. Between 17:00-20:00 hrs is reserved for FIA and team media activities.

The number of permitted chassis per manufacturer has been increased from six to nine and the number of test days from 42 to 55. 
 
Should a rally not be able to run in its entirety, Championship points will be awarded based on the established classification. Full points will be awarded if more than 75% of the scheduled length of special stages has been run, half points if between 50% and 75%, and no points will be awarded if less than 50% is run. Points awarded for the Power Stage, if run, are not subject to this attribution of reduced points.

 

         

 

 

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