2023 Bahrain Grand Prix - Preview

Looking ahead to the opening round of the 2023 Formula One season in Bahrain

• Toto Talks Bahrain
• Fact File: Bahrain Grand Prix
• Stat Attack: Bahrain and Beyond

Toto Talks Bahrain

We didn't have the smoothest winter test in Bahrain. We had some reliability problems and struggled with the car set-up on day two. But the key objective was to learn about the car, and we did lots of learning. We made good progress on the final day, which gave us directions to work on in the short period between the test and this weekend's race.

It's always hard to have a clear picture of competitiveness at pre-season testing - and even more so with only three days of data available. Our expectations were that we would likely be playing catch-up to the front, based on how last year ended. That seems to be the case so far but we will only know for sure after this weekend. Nevertheless, we are confident we have got a car we can work with and are in a stronger position than 12 months ago. More importantly, we are relishing the challenge. This championship will be fought over 23 race weekends, and each one will give us an opportunity to improve.

The start of a new season is always exciting, whether you've been working in this sport for a few decades, years or weeks. So much hard work has gone into the W14 over the winter and the anticipation to be get racing has kept on building. We will be going flat out this weekend - and are determined to keep that going to the final lap in Abu Dhabi.

Fact File: Bahrain Grand Prix

• Located in the middle of the desert, on what was formerly a camel farm, the Bahrain International Circuit features 1,120 palm trees.
• Being situated in a desert, you may expect sand to be an issue. However, the surrounding desert is sprayed with a sticky adhesive substance to minimize the amount of sand blowing on to the track.
• From the first breaking of the ground to build the Bahrain International Circuit to completion took just 496 days.
• The length of the tyre barriers is 4100 metres and a total of 82,000 tyres are used to do this.
• The total run-off area is 140,000 sq. metres.
• The Bahrain International Circuit has five FIA certified track layouts.
• Focus for car set-up is on optimising low and medium-speed corner performance. Mechanical grip is crucial out of the slower corners, whilst the high-speed sections are easily taken flat-out.
• The track surface is made from a special aggregate that was shipped from a quarry in England. It is one of the roughest surfaces of the season.
• Owing to the abrasiveness of the track, which is one of the roughest of the season, tyre degradation tends to be amongst the highest seen at any race across the calendar.
• Paddock working hours have been reduced by one hour for 2023, with the third of three restricted periods (effective on Fridays) beginning earlier this year. There is therefore less time for operational personnel to work on the cars each weekend.
• One of the most challenging corners on the track is Turn 10. It's long, combined corner entry that tightens before dropping away at the apex. Drivers must apply the brakes whilst completing the wide corner arc of Turn 9; this causes the front-left tyre to go light and increases the risk of a lock-up.
• The 5.412 km layout comprises seven braking events, including one classified as 'heavy.'