Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024
Event Overview
BIC is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year, as the opening round of the 2024 season and its first-ever Saturday night race at the Home of Motorsport in the Middle East on 29 February to 2 March 2024.
View More
Hospitality
Due to exceptional demand, we have continued to expand our hospitality offerings. This year, we are delighted to offer The Dome Lounge by F1 Experiences, as well as The Champions Club, both tailor-made in response to the massive interest in hospitality options for the grand prix. In addition, the ultimate in world-class hospitality is available in The Paddock Cub Please note that Corporate boxes for 2024 are now sold out.
View MoreAlonso sets day’s best lap in practice two under lights at F1 Gulf Air Bahrain GP 2023 at BIC
Alonso sets day’s best lap in practice two under lights at F1 Gulf Air Bahrain GP 2023 at BIC
- Pourchaire clinches pole for F2 Feature Race on Sunday
- Harry King keeps up the pace in Porsche second practice
Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the day in Formula 1 action this evening at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The Aston Martin ace and three-time race winner in Sakhir shone brightest under lights in the second practice session of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023, kicking off this year’s FIA F1 World Championship at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
Alonso was second-quickest in the opening F1 practice today but in the follow-up session went one better, with an ultra-quick lap time of one minute 30.907 seconds—faster than the 1:32.758 set by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez from the day’s earlier running.
Reigning double world champion Max Verstappen followed on the times 0.169 seconds behind, while Perez was third 0.171s back.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth on the classification 0.460s off Alonso’s pace, while the returning Nico Hulkenberg put Haas in fifth with a 0.469s gap from the top.
Lance Stroll impressed despite his recent injury to go sixth for Aston Martin 0.543s behind, while Pierre Gasly of Alpine came seventh 0.568s back and Lewis Hamilton was eighth 0.636s from first place.
Lando Norris (+0.663s) of McLaren and Zhou Guanyu (+0.679s) of Alfa Romeo rounded off the top 10 finishers.
Completing the second practice classification were Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, George Russell of Mercedes, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, Oscar Piastri of McLaren, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Alexander Albon of Williams, Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri, and Logan Sargeant of Williams.
F1 will be holding a third hour-long practice Saturday from 2.30pm. The first qualifying of the new F1 season then follows from 6pm, setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix.
Pourchaire clinches pole for F2 Feature Race on Sunday
Theo Pourchaire led an ART Grand Prix front-row lock-out for this weekend’s Formula 2 Feature Race in the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Pourchaire clinched pole position after taking the top spot in F2 qualifying with a best lap of 1:40.903.
He finished 0.751s ahead of teammate Victor Martins, while Richard Verschoor of Van Amersfoort Racing came third 0.900s off the pace.
Meanwhile, Ralph Boschung of Campos Racing will be on pole for the F2 Sprint Race, taking place Saturday. Boschung came away with his leading grid slot after finishing 10th in qualifying and following F2’s reverse grid rules. His best lap was 1:42.010.
The Sprint Race is scheduled for Saturday starting at 4.15pm. It will be run over 23 laps or 45 minutes.
Harry King keeps up the pace in Porsche second practice
Harry King from Great Britain maintained his strong pace this evening in round five of the 2022/2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, being held at Bahrain International Circuit.
After going fastest in the day’s first practice session, King once again topped the timesheet with a best lap of two minutes 01.081 seconds in practice two.
Vincent Andronaco from Germany followed with a top time of 2:01.751, while overall championship leader Ariel Levi from Israel came third 2:02.094.
All three top finishers are competing this weekend in the series’ Pro class.
Georgi Donchev from Bulgaria was quickest in the ProAm category, while Mark J Thomas from Canada led the Am class.
Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa was classified 10th with a fastest lap of 2:03.278.
Images
