It has been some five months since Jenson Button and Brawn GP were crowned World Champions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and since then there has been some major changes afoot.
Brawn GP are now Mercedes GP, while Button has jumped shipped to team up with 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. However, the biggest news is that Michael Schumacher is back in the sport, racing for Mercedes alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg.
Teams have had just 15 days of testing in Spain and it is hard to judge who has the edge, although if the timesheets are to be believed Ferrari are the team to follow over the course of the stages.
Fernando Alonso has blended in well with the Italian outfit and seemed at ease in his new machinery, although the double world champion is insisting that nothing can be learned from the testing.
US F1's deferral for at least a year means three new teams take to the grid in Bahrain, but with little testing between them it is impossible to assess their prospects.
The new rules will have a huge bearing on the destination of the title with refuelling banned during races. This change, the first time it has been prohibited since 1993, will result in a change to race strategy with cars much heavier and slower at the start of Grands Prix, thus influencing tyre wear.
The first race will answer some of the questions asked over the winter and it is those questions that make the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix one of the most eagerly-anticipated races in Formula 1 history.
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Schedule
Friday 12 March 2010
(All times local, which is 3 hours ahead of GMT)
Friday Practice 1 - 10:00 - 11:30
Friday Practice 2 - 14:00 - 15:30
Saturday 13 March 2010
Saturday Practice 3 - 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying - 14:00
Sunday 14 March 2010
Race - 15:00
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Weather
The weekend will bring warm, sunny weather with winds of between 8-9kph blowing in from the south. Temperatures are expected to exceed 30C each day.
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Track Guide
The circuit is located in Sakhir in the South of the main island and designed by renowned specialist Hermann Tilke, who was also behind the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Specially built, Sakhir is almost five and a half kilometres long and boasts an inner track of 2.4km with eight turns and an outer track of 3.66km with 10 turns.
In 2010 a new loop with eight new corners, beginning just after Turn 4, over dramatic elevation changes was added. These changes provide drivers with exciting overtaking opportunities, bringing the total number of real possibilities for overtaking to three.
Setanta Sports will broadcast live coverage of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championships. Coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 10:50 on Saturday.