After in-season testing around the Bahrain International Circuit last month, the 2025 campaign resumes with Round 2 in Sakhir.
Teams, drivers both returning and rookie alike will be familiar with the track after three-days of driving there, but who has done their homework between the test and race weekend?
TRIDENT and Rafael Câmara lead in the Championship stakes but will that be the case by the end of the round?
WHAT TO EXPECT
A familiar venue for FIA Formula 3 by now, the Bahrain International Circuit is the second flyaway round of the campaign.
Practice opens the weekend on Friday at 10:55 local time before attention switches to one-lap pace and Qualifying, taking place at 16:00 later in the day.
The Sprint Race is scheduled for 13:15 local on Saturday and is followed on Grand Prix Sunday by the Feature Race and lights out at 12:55.
FAST FACTS
- The Bahrain International Circuit features three DRS zones: Along the start/finish straight, between Turns 3 and 4 and Turns 10 and 11
- Arvid Lindblad’s 5.478s Sprint Race winning advantage from 2024 is the largest of any race in Sakhir in F3 history
- Rafael Câmara’s nine-point advantage over Noah Stromsted is the largest gap between drivers in first and second following Round 1 since Robert Shwartzman’s 13-point lead over Christian Lundgaard in 2019
- The winner of the first Feature Race of the year has gone on to win the F3 Drivers’ Championship in all but one FIA F3 season (2024, Luke Browning)
- Laurens van Hoepen and Tim Tramnitz are the only drivers on the 2025 grid to have stood on the podium in Sakhir previously, finishing second and third in the Sprint and Feature Races respectively in 2024
FROM THE GRID – Tim Tramnitz, MP Motorsport
“I would say it’s quite a middle-of-the-road track. There are quite a few long straights which is good for overtaking but the middle sector is quite technical, so you have a bit of both.
“The best place to overtake is Turn 1, but you have to be careful with the DRS because if you don’t get the move done, you can get re-overtaken on the next straight into Turn 4.
“With the DRS, you don’t have to manage it as much around other tracks and think about it during the race as you do here. Also the heat in Bahrain is a lot to handle, so it will be a tough weekend.”
TECHNICAL PREVIEW
Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 3 Technical Director
“The Bahrain International Circuit is an interesting track, one where all the drivers have been able to get some experience on after the three days of in season testing here two weeks ago.
“The track has four long straights, three being DRS zones, so overtaking possibilities are quite high, but the drivers also have to manage the tyres. The abrasive nature of the track surface, the heavy braking zones, and the warm temperatures put a huge amount of energy through the tyres.
“Also, for the first time this season, the drivers will race with the new 16-inch Hard tyres after using the Mediums at Round 1 in Melbourne. It will be an interesting challenge for all of them this weekend.”
PIRELLI PREVIEW
Sakhir has a very abrasive track surface and tyres experience high thermal stress, because of the high temperatures but also through the phases of traction and breaking, therefore the only choice of compound for this weekend had to be the Hard. The Formula 3 youngsters will definitely have made the most of the three days of testing at this track two weeks ahead of the race weekend, to learn how to best manage degradation on the new 16” Hard, which is making its first appearance of the season. No changes are expected in terms of performance of the compound compared to last year, when the races were action packed with lots of overtaking and battles.
Formula 3 Media | Photo: F3
