From gear changes to corner speeds, our track guide is the home of F1 geekery.

Swot up on the stats and facts ahead of the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix.





Information Stats Track name Bahrain International Circuit Track length 5.412km/3.363 miles (11th longest track of the year – longest: Spa-Francorchamps, shortest: Monaco) 2016 pole position Lewis Hamilton 1m29.493s 2016 fastest lap Nico Rosberg 1m34.482s (lap 41) Lap record 1:31.447s (Pedro de la Rosa, 2005) Distance to Turn One 400m/0.249 miles (longest of season: Barcelona, 730m/0.454 miles) Longest straight 1.09km/0.677 miles (longest of the season: China, 1.17km/0.727 miles) Top speed 335km/h/208mph, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of season: Monza, 350km/h/217mph) Full throttle 64 per cent (highest of the season: Monza, 75 per cent) Fuel consumption 1.8kg per lap, which is high. The engineers will need to monitor fuel consumption during the race, especially if there isn’t a Safety Car ERS demands Medium Gear changes 52 per lap/2964 per race

Engineering challenge?

Low-speed traction. There is a predominance of low-speed corners, where traction and tyre temperature has a huge bearing on lap time.

How to tell when a driver's really on it

Use of the kerbs. It’s possible for the drivers to use – even straddle - the kerbs at this track, but they’re slippery and dusty and you’d only do that when you’re on a quick lap.

Trickiest bits for the driver

Managing rear tyre temperature. It’s easy to get too much wheelspin when accelerating away from low-speed corners, especially when the throttle travel is only 50mm. The drivers have to be careful how they put down the power.

Car set-up

Due to the four long straights around the lap, top speed is crucial and that makes medium downforce the likely aero set-up for the cars. Mechanically, the cars are also set-up to understeer, in an attempt to protect the rear tyres from overheating.

Grip levels

Low. Dust from the surrounding desert blows onto the track, making it slippery – particularly off the racing line.

Tyre choice

Red Supersoft, yellow Soft and white Medium compounds.

Brake wear

High. There are eight braking zones around the lap, the biggest coming at Turns One and 14.

Tips if you're a gamer

Look after your rear tyres. The engineers hope that this year’s harder tyre compounds mean this will be less of a problem than in previous years, but it’s still a rear-limited circuit. And watch out for the fluctuating track temperatures. You might make set-up changes overnight on Friday that feel terrible during the heat of FP3, but will actually improve the balance of the car in the cooler conditions of qualifying and the race.