Which F1 drivers have won the most in Bahrain?

F1 calls in at Bahrain this weekend, the grand prix now a mainstay of the calendar since making its debut in 2004. Having hosted six season openers, it’s had no shortage of racing drama across 20 races.

After uneventful Chinese and Japanese GPs, Bahrain could also up this season’s ante judging by past events: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had their famous ‘Duel in the Desert’ in 2014, Sergio Perez took a brilliant win from the back on the 2020 Sakhir GP’s ‘roval’ layout (an extra race during Covid) and Romain Grosjean suffered his fiery smash – one of the most infamous in F1 history – at the Bahrain GP the same year.

The GP became a night race from 2014 to celebrate its tenth anniversary, currently one of four on the calendar along with Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

So who has emerged victorious on Arabian nights – as well as days? Below, we run through all the drivers that have snared the most silverware during their visits to the three-and-a-half-mile desert track over the years.

Drivers with the most wins at the Bahrain International Circuit 

Lewis Hamilton has the most wins at the Bahrain International Circuit with five victories

The first win for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain came in 2014, snatching the lead from team-mate and pole-sitter Nico Rosberg at the first corner. The two then engaged in a famous on-track fight mid-race, repeatedly trading first and second until Hamilton eventually emerged on top. The Brit replicated his success the following year, converting pole position into another win with Mercedes. 

For the 2019 event, Ferrari’s new recruit Charles Leclerc looked on track for his first Formula 1 victory in just his second race. The Monegasque achieved his first career pole position and pulled an eight second lead to Hamilton behind with just over 10 laps of the race to go. However, his Ferrari then slowed after suffering a sudden engine issue, allowing the Mercedes man to pass for the race win just two laps later. Leclerc was able to hold onto third by the chequered flag, securing him his first Formula 1 podium. 

Hamilton also won the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix – a race remembered for Grosjean’s shocking crash – as well as the 2021 event which served as the season-opener. 

Sebastian Vettel is second on the all-time winners list in Sakhir with four, while Fernando Alonso has three victories. 

Drivers with the most podiums at the Bahrain International Circuit 

Lewis Hamilton has the most podiums at the Bahrain (11) 

The seven-time champion’s first podium at the circuit came in 2007 during his rookie year, finishing 2.3 seconds behind race winner Felipe Massa. The next time he’d stand on the Bahrain podium was in the 2010 season opener.

Wins followed in 2014 and 2015 and kick started an impressive run of form at Sakhir for Hamilton, who finished on the podium at every consecutive season until 2022. Despite starting from pole position for the 2016 event, Hamilton got a bad start and found himself involved in a first corner collision with Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas which sent him down to ninth. He managed to recover back to third place at the chequered flag.

Chances of another win were dashed in 2017 when Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty for holding up Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo at the entrance to the pit lane. Team-mate Bottas was asked to move aside, not once but twice, to let Hamilton through to chase race leader Vettel, but Hamilton was forced to settle for second. 

Hamilton clashed with Max Verstappen on lap two of the 2018 race but still finished in the top three, before going on to win the 2019, 2020 and 2021 races. His last podium result at the circuit came in 2022, but could add to his tally this weekend now racing for Ferrari. 

Kimi Räikkönen achieved eight podiums at the Sakhir circuit, with Vettel the next best with five top three finishes here. 

Drivers with the most pole positions at the Bahrain International Circuit 

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are all tied for most Bahrain GP pole positions (3)

The title for the most pole positions at Bahrain is a three-way tie, with Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton all sharing the honours. 

Vettel was the first of these three to start from the all-important P1 slot, doing so during the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. However, a power issue on lap 34 meant he was unable to convert it into a victory and instead crossed the finish line in fourth. He was able to right the wrong two years later when he locked in pole, the fastest lap and the win. His other pole position came in 2018 when he won his final Bahrain Grand Prix in the Ferrari SF71H. 

Of Lewis Hamilton’s 104 pole positions, only three of them have been around the Sakhir circuit. He managed back-to-back poles during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, with his most recent being at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. 

Max Verstappen is the most recent pole position holder in Bahrain, securing the front-row spot for last year’s event. The reigning world champion also managed the same feat back in 2023, and again in 2021. 

The first of his three poles at the circuit was just the fourth in his F1 career but Verstappen missed out on the victory by just 0.7 seconds to championship rival Hamilton. The Red Bull driver was undercut at the first round of pit stops by Hamilton and Mercedes, but a later second stop meant Max was able to hunt down Hamilton in the final stages of the race. After making a pass for the lead on Lap 53, Verstappen was forced to hand it back to Hamilton after completing the overtake off the race track.