2020 Sakhir Grand Prix

Previous race

The Bahrain Grand Prix was marred by a serious accident involving Romain Grosjean. On the opening lap, after making contact with Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, Grosjean’s Haas struck a barrier and broke in two, bursting into flames as it split the Armco. Grosjean escaped with burns to his hands after being trapped in the wreckage for approximately 28 seconds. Hamilton won the race ahead of Verstappen and Albon. Pérez retired from third with an engine failure; Stroll flipped at the restart after further contact with Kvyat.

Entrants

Grosjean is absent while recovering from his burns. Haas promotes test driver Pietro Fittipaldi for his Formula One debut. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19 and is declared unfit to participate — the first time he has missed a Formula One race since his debut at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. George Russell, Hamilton’s Mercedes protégé and regular Williams driver, takes his place at Mercedes. Jack Aitken replaces Russell at Williams for his Formula One race debut.

Circuit layout

This race uses the Bahrain International Circuit’s Outer Circuit for the first time in Formula One. At 3.543 km, it is considerably shorter than the 5.412 km Grand Prix layout used last weekend. The 87-lap distance required to exceed 305 km produces lap times under one minute in all sessions — only the 1974 French Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois previously produced sub-one-minute lap times in a World Championship weekend. Several drivers have raised safety concerns about the short lap creating traffic in qualifying, with Sainz describing the layout as “on the verge of being dangerous.” The FIA has confirmed that impeding rules remain in force and penalties will still be issued.

Tyre choices

Pirelli supplies the C2, C3, and C4 compounds — the middle range of hardnesses.

Practice

Russell topped both Friday practice sessions for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen and Albon in FP1, and ahead of Verstappen and Pérez in FP2. Verstappen went fastest in the third and final practice session, with Bottas second and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly third.