Next up on the glamorous League of Europe roadshow we head to Asia and the Bahrain International Circuit.
As every race week I try to bring some new information your way about F1, circuits, drivers rules and League of Europe info too. This time I have info on Drivers, the circuit and LoE.
The first Asian Formula One driver was Japans Hiroshi Fushida. He qualified for the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, but a blown engine prevented him from starting the race. He failed to qualify for the British Grand Prix later in the season.
Satoru Nakajima became the first full-time Japanese Formula One driver in 1987, as a Honda-affiliated driver for Team Lotus alongside established Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, and only in his second race, became the first Japanese F1 driver to score points. In a career that spanned 5 seasons and 80 Grands Prix, he made a name for himself as a respected mid-field runner, who despite never beating his team-mates in the Drivers' Championship was known as a formidable competitor.
At Bahrain the first race was on the 4th April 2004 and was the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the "Best Organised Grand Prix" by the FIA.
The Bahrain Grand Prix has usually been the third race on the calendar. However, in the 2006 season, Bahrain swapped places with the traditional opener, in Australia because that Grand Prix moved to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. In 2010, Bahrain also staged the opening race of the 2010 season the full 6.2 km (3.9 miles) Endurance Circuit was used to celebrate Formula 1's diamond jubilee.
Even though it was awarded the Best Organised Grand Prix in 2004 the Bahrain GP has not been 100% liked in 2011 it was cancelled one month before being held due to the 2011 Bahraini protests after drivers including Damon Hill and Mark Webber had protested. Human rights activists also called for a cancellation of 2012 race due to reports of alleged human rights abuses. Team personnel also voiced concerns about safety, but the race, was held as planned on 22 April 2012.
In 2014, to commemorate its 10th running, the race was held as a night event under floodlights and was won by Lewis Hamilton. All races since have also been held at night.
Shortly after the Formula One testing, Grand Prix organizers for Bahrain announced a decision to name the first corner of the track after former seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in honour of his achievements and also in support after the driver suffered an almost fatal skiing accident late December 2013.
The most wins are 4 by Sebastian Vettel and for the Constructors it is 6 by Ferrari. And Pedro de la Rosa in a McLaren (yep it’s that old of a record) hold the fastest lap at 1:31.447 which he did in 2005.
For the League of Europe AlphaTrix4809 has the most wins at Bahrain with 2, 13 drivers are on 1. adrilocdoc, AlphaTrix4809, NSX_Montana and rikkurich share the most podiums with 2 each in the 4 LoE seasons so far.
The fastest pole time is 1:24.479 by AlphaTrix4809 and MMA_Slash has the fastest race lap with 1:27.333.
written by Sir_Ibbo