Hamilton's lap at Bahrain

Only one week after the demanding Malaysian Grand Prix, the Bahraini Grand Prix is scheduled at Sakhir. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren's rookie driver, takes us for a drive along the Bahrain International Circuit.

Lewis Hamilton "On top of the five days testing in Bahrain that I completed, I have also raced at this circuit. The first and only time I competed there was with Formula 3 in 2004, which I won. Being out in the desert makes it quite unique and very different to every other circuit we go to. There is a very long pit straight and a tight first corner, which is good for braking into, but when you start the race it can be hectic into the first corner, with everyone trying to squeeze round in first gear. This has the potential to be tricky so I am not really looking forward to going down into that corner with 21 other guys, as it will be pretty close and staying out of trouble there is not going to be easy. Then you have another long straight leading into a tight corner at Turn Four; this isn't as slow, just quite normal and nothing spectacular. You then have the sequence of Turn Five and Six which is very high speed. Your line and technique through there are key; getting on power and coming off the power. In a Formula 1 car it is very quick and really nice to drive, with a fast left followed by a fast right and back into a fast left. This section is very tricky as there is so much sand on the track and the wind is always changing direction meaning that each time you go in, it is different. As you come out of Turn Eight and up into Turn Nine the corner just gets tighter and tighter and you are braking whilst you are still turning. This corner has to be one of the hardest as both the speed and grip levels are low and it's easy to lock up the tyres here. The thing with this track is there are plenty of overtaking opportunities as there are many huge straights where you can get mega tows, but the most exciting part of the track would definitely be Turn Five and Six."