Bahrain Grand Prix facts and figures

Posted at 12:00am on 10 March 2010

March 10 (Reuters) - Facts and figures for Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix:

Circuit: Sakhir, 6.299 km, race to be held over 49 laps. Total distance 308.405 km.

GMT start time: 1200 (1500 local)

2009 pole position: Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota

Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari 1:30.252 (2004).

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Records of leading drivers in Bahrain:

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Jenson Button 1 R R 4 R 3 Sebastian Vettel 2 R - - - - Rubens Barrichello 5 11 13 15 9 2 Mark Webber 11 7 R 6 6 8 Lewis Hamilton 4 13 2 - - - Nico Rosberg 9 8 10 7 - - Jarno Trulli 3 6 7 16 2 4 Fernando Alonso 8 10 5 1 1 6 Timo Glock 7 9 - - - - Felipe Massa 14 1 1 9 7 12 Heikki Kovalainen 12 5 9 - - - Robert Kubica 18 3 6 - - - Sebastien Buemi 17 - - - - - Adrian Sutil 16 19 15 - - - Vitantonio Liuzzi - - R 11 - - Michael Schumacher - - - 2 R 1

Resume of previous races:

2009 (Jenson Button, Brawn GP)

Button sealed a hat-trick of wins, his third victory in four races. Toyota had started with both cars on the front row for the first time but their hopes of a first win did not last long. Ferrari scored their first points of the year with Kimi Raikkonen sixth despite colliding with team mate Felipe Massa.

2008 (Massa, Ferrari)

Massa won for the second year in a row, leading a Ferrari one-two for his first points of the season. Team mate Raikkonen took the championship lead from McLaren's Hamilton after his 50th career podium. BMW-Sauber, with Kubica securing the team's first pole position, took the lead in the constructors' standings for the first time.

2007 (Massa, Ferrari)

Massa took the third win of his F1 career, winning from pole position. Hamilton started on the front row for the first time and became the first driver in 57 years to finish his first three races on the podium.

2006 (Fernando Alonso, Renault)

Alonso made a perfect start to the season, with Bahrain the opening race for the first time. Michael Schumacher started on pole for Ferrari, equalling the late Ayrton Senna's record of 65 poles. Kimi Raikkonen finished third from the back of the grid.

2005 (Alonso, Renault)

Alonso started on pole and won his second race in a row and Renault's third. Schumacher retired with hydraulic failure. Trulli was second for Toyota with Raikkonen following for McLaren's first podium of the season.

2004 (Schumacher, Ferrari)

Schumacher started on pole for the third race in a row and won for the third time in a row, with Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello following in second place.

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Circuit details:

Located about 30km south of the capital Manama and surrounded by desert, the undulating Sakhir circuit is one of the most modern in the world.

The layout has been extended for this season, with eight extra corners and a significant change of elevation. There are 23 turns, 13 of them right-handers. Sand can be a problem, making the track slippery and accelerating the rate of tyre wear, as is the heat and dehydration.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Alison Wildey

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