2012 Bahrain Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the championship on 45 points after China. Button is second on 43, Alonso third on 37, Webber fourth on 36, and Vettel fifth on 28 — three different drivers have led the championship in three races so far.

Previous race

Rosberg won in China for Mercedes’ first victory since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix — a 56-year wait. Button finished second, Hamilton third. Alonso dropped to third in the standings as Vettel again failed to score.

Between-race developments

The return to Bahrain after the 2011 cancellation has attracted widespread controversy. The 2011 race was called off due to anti-government protests; human rights groups and media outlets including Al Jazeera, CNN, and The Independent have described the decision to hold the 2012 race amid continuing unrest as “one of the most controversial in the history of the sport.” There were reports of clashes and arrests in the days leading up to race weekend.

Penalties

Pastor Maldonado carries a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change — the fourth driver of the season to receive such a penalty.

Entrants

Valtteri Bottas replaces Bruno Senna in the Williams for the first practice session — his third of a scheduled 15 sessions in the car this year. Force India did not participate in FP2 due to security concerns; the team completed 22 cars and ran instead in FP3.

Tyre choices

No prior data exists for Pirelli tyre behaviour at Sakhir: the 2011 race was cancelled, and the opening three races in Australia, Malaysia, and China all ran in cool or wet conditions that give no baseline for the hot, dry desert circuit. Pirelli supplies medium and soft compound tyres and predicts high degradation and potential graining from the abrasive, sand-blown surface. Webber said that “teams who understood the behaviour of the tyres first would be the most successful in the race.” The DRS is deployed at Bahrain for the first time, placed on the start-finish straight with an 820-metre activation zone.

Circuit

The race reverts to the shorter Grand Prix configuration after the 2010 race used the longer endurance layout.

Practice

FP1 ran on a visibly sandy track surface after two years of disuse. Hamilton was fastest (1:33.572) ahead of Vettel and di Resta.

Force India missed FP2. Rosberg topped the session (1:32.816) ahead of Webber and Vettel. Hamilton was fourth.

A localised sandstorm near the circuit cleared before FP3 as a westerly wind developed. Di Resta and Hülkenberg completed an extensive programme, completing 43 laps between them. Rosberg again led the times (1:33.254) ahead of Vettel, Webber, and Hamilton.

Weather

Sunny and hot conditions are forecast for race day — 27°C air temperature, 32°C track.