Bahrain Grand Prix - Epreuve World Championship Formula 1 - 2010

The Bahrain International Circuit is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 and an annual Formula One Grand Prix. The 2004 Grand Prix was the first held in the Middle East.

The construction of the Bahrain circuit was a national objective for Bahrain, initiated by the Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The Crown Prince is the Honorary President of the Bahrain Motor Federation.

Race organizers were worried that the circuit would not be complete in time for the 2004 Grand Prix and attempted to cancel the event, however Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone refused this request. In the end, the circuit was not quite fully complete, but was good enough for the grand prix to go ahead.

The circuit posed a unique problem. Positioned in the middle of a desert, there were worries that sand would blow onto the circuit and disrupt the race. However, organizers were able to keep the sand off the track by spraying an adhesive on the sand around the track.

The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the same architect who designed the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. The circuit cost approximately US $150 million to construct. It has six separate tracks, including a test oval and a drag strip. 

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