The Bahrain International Circuit is a world-class motorsport complex, home to the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix since 2004 when Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa delivered the venue as a symbol of Bahrain's status as an economic powerhouse in the Middle East. The main raceway is a design of the renowned German architect Hermann Tilke, who used a   graywacke aggregate imported from Europe for the surface to improve the grip it offers for high-performance vehicles. Being in the heart of the Sakhir desert, high summer temperatures and sand storms were top concerns for drivers, but racing at night and applying a compound on the dunes surrounding the track proved to be excellent solutions for these issues.

The Grand Prix Circuit is oriented clockwise and consists of 15 turns, with a total length of 5.4 km (3.36 miles). The average lap time is 2:15.757, with an average speed is 143 Km/h (89 mph) and an impressive maximum speed of 329.6 Km/h (204.804 mph). The F1 cars develop such top speeds on the circuit's four straightaways, but mainly in the 0.75-km (0.46-mile) start/finish straight in front of the grandstands. After the long straightaway, drivers get to turn one, a 135-degree right-hander that forces them to downshift quickly to bring their speed from approximately 330 Km/h to 70 Km/h. The rest of the circuit has a similar flow, with top acceleration in the straight segments followed by heavy downshifting in turns 4, 8, 10, 11, and 12.