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THE forthcoming Formula One season will be boasting even more twists and turns as Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) extends its track in time for the opening race.
The 2010 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will be kicking off the 60th anniversary season of the FIA Formula One World Championship with a new layout from its existing 5.412km circuit to 6.299km.
After six years as host to the biggest sporting, business and social event in the
Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, acting CEO of the BIC, said: “As the sport evolves and grows it is entirely fitting that we use our unique geography and circuit design to grow with it and deliver the best racing and entertainment that we can.”
Already the 2010 F1 season is the most anticipated in recent memory, headlined by the return of Mercedes-Benz as a Formula One constructor for the first time in 55 years led by seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher.
He will have to confront the British McLaren ‘superteam’ of reigning world champion Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s new partnership of double world champion Fernando Alonso with fellow two-time Bahrain Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa.
While the circuit will retain its unique character, the new loop will sweep left as the cars accelerate out of Turn 4 and take them into a fast flowing right-hander before a complex sequence of five bends brings them back towards the original circuit. From here they will accelerate through a left-right kink before a tight and challenging hairpin brings them back on to the existing circuit, adding eight new corners.
