Bahrain International Circuit will open its outer track ahead of the second race in Bahrain, Formula 1 announces the details.
Formula 1’s current season has numerous doubleheaders, and Bahrain‘s International circuit will also organize two races this season, thus, the officials at the circuit have proposed alteration for the second race.
Formula 1 announced the plan for the track for the second race in Bahrain- Sakhir Grand Prix. During the race, the circuit officials will open the outer track of the circuit, where the race map will be laid out.
BREAKING: Bahrain’s outer circuit will be used for Round 16 of 2020 world championship – and it will be a night race! #SakhirGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/DoKrc1ifWp
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 28, 2020
Moreover, it will be a full night race with both qualifying and the race taking place later in the evening compared to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The outer track increases the straights and lessens the corners, in the race, meaning there would be a higher probability of shorter gaps in qualifying and increased number of overtakes.
“We are excited to announce the outer circuit as the format for the Sakhir Grand Prix and want to thank our partners at the Bahrain International Circuit for their continued support,” said Brawn.
“We assessed a number of options for the alternative circuit layout and concluded the outer circuit will provide the best alternative and will provide a new challenge for all the teams and entertain all our fans with high speeds and fast lap times.”
Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of Bahrain International Circuit, added: “We thank Formula 1 for all their work in analysing options for our second race and it’s a great testament to our venue that we will be able to hold what is likely to be very contrasting races on consecutive weekends.
Our outer track has never been used for international competitive racing, so will be a new and exciting challenge for all participants.” he further said.
Bahrain International Circuit- Most laps this season
As per Formula 1, with such a short track – the second shortest on the calendar after Monaco – the Sakhir GP will be an 87-lap race to ensure the 305 km official minimum distance is met – that’s the most racing laps of any Grand Prix this year.
F1 also predicts that the qualifying lap would probably touch 55 seconds and a race lap near to 60 seconds. The only sub-60s pole time in F1 history came in 1974 when Niki Lauda lapped Dijon-Prenois in his Ferrari in 58.79s.
The shortest lap time seen in recent times was Valtteri Bottas’s pole lap in Austria earlier this year of 1m 02.939s. Thus, such dynamic changes in the track attract even more excitement, but unlikely to see a topple of Mercedes with these conditions.
