Batelco are the best seats. You can see the cars doing high speed & as it is elevated, you can also see the other parts of the track.

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Bahrain is a small island off the Arabian Peninsula. It is much more socially liberal compared to other Arab states but it is still conservative. It is linked by the King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia so the Saudis can visit and have an entertainment outlet. Riyadh is 4 hours away. Jeddah is roughly 9-10 hours. Qatar is located close as the crow flies so a ferry service could be viable but the current GCC posture on Qatar means this will not happen. Flights to Doha are pretty convoluted.

Manama is at the top Northwest tip. Sakhir, where the F1 action happens, is the green patch in the middle.

So the questions were - How do you get there? What do you do in and around Manama? What else is there except for the F1?

Beyond oil and financial services, Bahrain is also known for Pearl fishing and Diving at the Southern tip of the island. However, we did not look into this. This guide focuses on going for the F1 and what you can do in between.

So how did this all start?

It started at the end of Feb - Viddy calls!

"Let's go for the Bahrain F1"

"How do you go about it?"

"Leave it to the homeless (a long-standing joke) moderator's travel agent"

To cut a long story short, the homeless mod's agent was charging excessively for the visa and the hotel options looked dodgy. I did a quick check and found we could do this easily on our own, hence this Ready Reckoner on what was required.

Believe me - It is a lot easier than going to the Buddh Circuit in many ways. Air tickets apart, costs are reasonable. The authorities pull out the stops for a painless experience. From landing to getting to the track and back - it's simple!

Three of us - Viddy, RobiMahanta and myself took the plunge. Also in the fray was fellow Mod Suhaas who was either getting lost or missing now and then (at least his travelling group were!) and of course, the Homeless Moderator Navin who came to listen to Eric Clapton and so happened to see the F1 and visit family and become a Vegan on the side.

So what does it take to enjoy a few days of the F1 Weekend?

Get the tickets

Buy them directly from Bernie or Liberty.

Tickets.formula1.com

Where are the best seats?

The track has various elevations and is a very technical track.

Batelco - The best seats - You can see the cars at speed and as it is elevated, you can see the other parts of the track. The diagonal line marks where we will sit next time. It's also less of a trek compared to the University stand.

The University stand (marked by the arrow) is where we sat. You see turn 1 and some of the other parts of the track as marked by the square.

• Block 1 - A section (Right of Arrow) - you see mainly the turn.
• Block 1 - C Section - you see the turn and the acceleration into the DRS zone.
• Block 2 - (Left of Arrow) only the DRS zone.

Around the seats stands - Portocabin toilets are decent. Gets a bit manky on race day but tolerable. Food stalls only serve snacks and overpriced cold coffee and there are queues. A little expensive so best you bring your own snacks. Keep it in your bag and only take it out once inside the stand. Water bottles are not allowed on the stand so you need to pour water into a cup.

Get the Visa

https://www.evisa.gov.bh/

It is free of cost - A month or two before the race, you need to select the Formula 1 Visa - It's valid for entry up till the race day and for two weeks duration only. Apply and then you get notified. Do take a printout.

Book your flight tickets

Your options are:

• Air India - only via Delhi - long and convoluted route but comfortable.
• Emirates - expensive (at time of writing) and long layover.
• Air Arabia - Cheap, minimal time but uncomfortable - seats do not adjust, I made a mistake in selecting an aisle seat and was constantly disturbed by the constant trolley service. Flight is during your deep sleep zone. Full of pilgrims returning and they bring on an excess of hand baggage. Best tip - Empty your bladder, snag a window seat and sleep. Layovers are short but the flights get delayed by an hour to ensure transfers happen. We arrived in Bahrain one hour late and reached back to Bangalore two hours late. Note - Before leaving Bangalore -you need to get an "ok to board endorsement" for Rs 500 each - i.e upload your passport, visa and vaccination certificate to some travel agent portal and tickets get assigned an "OK to Board" status.
• GulfAir - Direct - best option but they were not flying yet.

Do prepare and print a hard copy of your Air Suvidha before you depart Manama. It is required to be handed in at your arrival in India. Airlines check this. Create it before you depart or get it printed at the hotel. Alternatively - for 500 fils - you can print at the airport by scanning a QR code and sending it to a travel agent via Whats App or 3 BHD - they will fill up the form and print it out.

Book Accommodation

Accommodation is reasonable. Three of us booked a 3 bedroom executive apartment in the Marriot which could easily hold 6. We paid around Rs 30000/day overall and it included a good breakfast. We started the day with a big breakfast and managed on snacks during the day.

Some apartments don’t serve breakfast and if you are in the Juffair area - you need to go a long way to get it. Our lost mod - Suhaas found it difficult to find breakfast at first. We stayed in the Juffair area. There are some steakhouse/Irish bar places around but not many options for breakfast except for Starbucks. The workaround is to locate an apartment near a supermarket and buy provisions for a quick breakfast. The Juffair mall has some cheap Indian options and plenty of fried chicken (very cheap that you wonder why you came all the way).

Since most flights arrive in the morning - do ask for early check-in!

View from our Hotel

At Manama Airport

Be prepared to show your tickets to the immigration office - on your phone. They give you a thumbs up and welcome you in. They had special queues for F1 visitors.

Us 3 waiting for the airport. I changed a little money at the airport. Like all airports - the rates suck. Plenty of options in Malls and other shopping areas. Some of the bigger shops accept foreign currency at reasonable rates.

Getting from Airport

To avoid local scams, use Uber - Book in the airport terminal using airport wireless as the roaming takes time to activate. Normal cabs have surcharges etc which add up!

Entertainment around Manama

Nothing much seems to be open during the day. Everything wakes up at night. The town only comes to life in the evening.

There are no street attractions. Things are conservative on the outside but a lot goes on within - i.e. all entertainment is within buildings so you need to get in and explore.

Adilya is the place. Traffic is thick at night from Thurs to Sunday. Full of Saudis drive in to do what they cannot do during the week. You see a lot of classic cars in the area. Some clubs allow you through reservation. We walked into a club but it was too noisy so decided to camp in the Mexican Restaurant downstairs.

Food

Lunch - Recommend CoCo's in Aldiya but portions are big - It suited us as we just flew in and had skipped breakfast!

For folks on a budget, some shwarma places are open around the corner. For local food - recommend Al-Abraaj Adilya.

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restauran...aj-Manama.html

Outside of Aldilya - there are some food trucks in empty spaces. After the Qualifying and the Show, we tried a takeaway from one of these at 11 PM- it was very average though.

Driving around

One's IDP needs to be validated by their authorities so not worth it unless you are there for a while. Uber is the best although a little expensive but cheaper than car hire. Only time you might consider a car - is if you want to spend a lot of time at the track.

Taxis are available. Uber is the best and comes within minutes. A lot of them are driven by Malayalis. Mainly Camrys, Kias and Sonatas - we did get an Accord and a Ford Flex though.

There are cabs outside the malls but there are scams like fixed prices etc. Local authorities do strictly demand that you go by the meter. Stick with Uber!

Weather

Of course, it's hot in summer but what you do not realise is that Nov-April, it is very pleasant during the day but freezing at night. 17 degrees but the sea breeze makes it colder.

Continue reading ajmat's experience for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

According to a statement from the Bahrain International Circuit, the 2020 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix will be a participants-only event due to the global coronavirus outbreak. There will be no spectators in the stands and the race weekend will go ahead as a televised event.

The Kingdom of Bahrain took the decision after consulting the national health taskforce and international partners. The race weekend would have seen thousands of international as well as local race fans in close proximity.

The Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled to be held between April 17-19, 2020, has been postponed due to the outbreak.

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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has won the 2019 Bahrain grand prix after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc suffered an engine issue. The Ferrari driver lead most of the race and looked set to take victory but technical issues saw him drop back just 10 laps before the checkered flag. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) overtook the slow moving Ferrari to finish second.

Leclerc's troubles gave Red Bull's Max Verstappen some hope of finishing on the podium, however a safety car in the dying moments of the race meant Verstappen had to settle for fourth place.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) started on the front row and went into the lead as his pole sitting team mate struggled for traction. But, Leclerc fought back later. Vettel then had to fend off Hamilton after the first round of pit stops. Eventually, the Mercedes driver found his way past the Ferrari as Vettel spun and destroyed his front wing. Vettel finished in fifth place.

Lando Norris finished in sixth place for McLaren ahead of Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen. Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) finished eighth, while Alexander Albon in the Torro Rosso finished in the ninth place. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) finished 10th.

Carlos Sainz (McLaren) and Romain Grosjean (Haas) failed to finish the race. Both Renault cars of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo suffered a technical failure during the closing laps of the race and therefore the race finished under safety car conditions. 

Valtteri Bottas leads the championship with 44 points. Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap of the race and is on 26 points. The next race will be held in China on April 14, 2019.

World Drivers' Championship standings:

Valtteri Bottas - 44

Lewis Hamilton - 43

Max Verstappen - 27

World Constructors' Championship standings:

Mercedes - 87

Ferrari - 48

Red Bull - 31

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to win the Bahrain grand prix. Lewis Hamilton recovered after starting from 9th on the grid to finish 3rd, while Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire on lap 36 following a pit stop incident (unsafe release).

Vettel started on pole ahead of Raikkonen. But, Bottas was quicker off the line and passed Kimi's Ferrari before turn 1. Hamilton had qualified 4th but a grid penalty for gearbox change dropped him down to 9th place. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo started from 4th but was out of the race on lap 2 due to an electrical issue. His team mate Max Verstappen, who started down in 15th was quick off the line and was soon challenging Hamilton. The scuffle between the two ended with Verstappen getting a puncture. He later retired.

After the first round of pit stops, it was clear that Mercedes were on a one-stop strategy, while Ferrari had committed to a two-stopper. With Kimi out and both Mercedes on a better strategy, Ferrari was forced to extend Vettel's stint on the soft tyres till the end of the race. Bottas, on the more durable rubber was catching up to Vettel and launched an attack on the penultimate lap but in the end, despite the lack of grip, Vettel managed to take the chequered flag just 0.6 seconds ahead of Bottas.

Torro Rosso's Pierre Gasly started behind Ricciardo and finished 4th - his best ever finish for the team. Kevin Magnussen finished 5th in the Haas ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault. McLaren's Fernando Alsonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished 7th and 8th respectively. Alonso started in 13th place but quickly gained a few positions during the opening laps. He did catch up to Hulkenberg's Renault but was unable to pass the German driver. Marcus Ericsson who started down in 17th place finished 9th for Alfa Romeo Sauber ahead of Force India's Esteban Ocon. Both Sauber and Force India scored their first points of the season under the lights in Bahrain. Williams is the only team that is yet to score a championship point.

The third round of the 2018 Formula 1 world championship will be held in Shanghai on April 15, 2018.

World Drivers' Championship standings:

Sebastian Vettel - 50

Lewis Hamilton - 33

Valtteri Bottas - 22

World Constructors' Championship standings:

Ferrari - 65

Mercedes - 55

McLaren Renault - 22