After a chaotic and crazy race of Bahrain GP, another exciting Grand Prix at the same place but with a different layout ahead us.

Expected to require similar downforce levels to Monza, Ross Brawn even described this outer Bahrain circuit layout as being a kind of “oval” which takes place over 87 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit by 3.5 kilometers in length outer track layout.

We are so thankful that Romain Grosjean was able to walk away from that hideous accident. Grosjean, 34, managed to get out of his burning car for almost half a minute before eventually leaping away and into the arms of Formula One doctor, Englishman Ian Roberts, one of the first men on the scene.

It was an incident that left everyone in shock with an unbelievable force hitting the Armco at 140mph registered almost 50G, splitting his car in two, the reason which made the gas spill.

The Sakhir Grand Prix will be a full night race with both qualifying and the race with such a short track (the second shortest on the calendar) after Monaco.

Here’s what some drivers are saying ahead of the event next weekend:

Lando Norris commented that the outer Bahrain circuit reminds him of Thruxton in Britain: “It’s not many corners – small, sharp corners, the ones we have in Bahrain – but at the same time it’s a very small oval kind-of shape track and very short as well.”

Carlos Sainz: “There are only two extra real corners that we will do in Bahrain,” he said. “The rest of the two or three corners that track will have, we will race there one week before. So it will be fairly easy to get to learn it then and to maximize every corner.”
“It’s going to be a challenge to find the right compromise on the set-up because it’s not a typical track for Formula 1,” he said. “You never go to this kind of circuit with only long straights and two or three corners to really drive around.”

George Russell: “It’s exciting because the lap times are going to be so close, I reckon everybody will probably be within a second in qualifying. Which means if you make one small mistake, you can be losing loads of positions on Saturday.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s going to be interesting. I don’t think we’ve come to a circuit like that before with so few corners followed by quite long straights. I hope at the chicane we can carry enough momentum to get close and to get a tow and to set up some overtaking maybe into the last corner, for example.”