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.
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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 MoreToyota Gazoo Racing’s Buemi-Nakajima-Hartley top FP1 times
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Buemi-Nakajima-Hartley top FP1 times
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 crew of Sebastien Buemi-Kazuki Nakajima-Brendon Hartley kicked off their final race weekend of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) by topping the first Free Practice session this evening in the season-ending Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
It was a positive start for the trio in their GR010 Hybrid Hypercar as they make one last push for the drivers’ Hypercar world title against teammates Kamui Kobayashi-Mike Conway-Jose Maria Lopez in Toyota Gazoo’s #7 Hypercar.
Buemi-Nakajima-Harltey had a best lap time of one minute 48.490 seconds with 40 laps completed after 90 minutes under BIC’s bright state-of-the-art floodlights.
They were 0.408 seconds quicker than Kobayashi-Conway-Lopez, who are currently ahead in the drivers’ championship standings by 15 points.
Alpine Elf Matmut followed in third overall as well as in the Hypercar class with a best lap of 1:49.479 for the trio of Matthieu Vaxiviere-Andre Negrao-Nicolas Lapierre in the Alpine A480-Gibson.
Setting the pace amongst the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) 2 contenders was the Realteam Racing #70 crew of Norman Nato-Loic Duval-Esteban Garcia. They had a best lap of 1:50.792 in their Oreca 07-Gibson, going quicker than the #28 JOTA of Sean Gelael-Stoffel Vandoorne-Tom Blomqvist. Racing Team Nederland’s #29 car of Giedo van der Garde-Frist Van Eerd-Job Van Uitert followed third in class.
In the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) Pro category, Kevin Estre-Neel Jani-Michael Christensen of Porsche GT Team drove their #92 911 RSR-19 to a fastest lap of 1:57.657 for first place.
They finished on the practice classification ahead of teammates Frederic Makowiecki-Gianmaria Bruni-Richard Lietz in their #91 car. AF Corse’s Miguel Molina-Daniel Serra in the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo were third quickest.
In the LMGTE Am class, Aston Martin Racing’s Paul Dalla Lana-Augusto Farfus-Marcos Gomes took the top spot in their #98 Vantage AMR with a best lap of 1:58.093. Team Project 1’s Egidio Perfetti-Matteo Cairoli-Riccardo Pera were second in their #56 911 RSR-19, while Cetilar Racing’s #47 crew of Antonio Fuoco-Roberto Lacorte-Giorgio Sernagiotto in their 488 GTE Evo were third.
A total of 31 cars took part in the session.
HIghlights
