Construction of the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir began in 2002. Bahrain won the right to host Formula One against competing bids from Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. The circuit contract was extended in February 2022 to keep the race on the calendar through 2036.
The event has occupied varying positions on the F1 calendar across its history. In 2006 it replaced the Australian Grand Prix as the season opener, the Australian race having been moved to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. Bahrain also opened the season in 2010, when the race used the longer Endurance Circuit layout of 6.299 km rather than the standard Grand Prix Circuit, chosen to mark Formula One's diamond jubilee. The event opened the 2021 season again after the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2025, the Australian Grand Prix reclaimed the season-opening slot as part of Formula One's regionalisation strategy, with Bahrain scheduled as the fourth race of the year.
A significant milestone came in 2014, when the Bahrain Grand Prix became F1's second night race — after Singapore's debut as a night event in 2008 — with the circuit illuminated by floodlights to mark the race's tenth anniversary. Lewis Hamilton won that inaugural night edition. The race has been held at night ever since.
The Bahrain International Circuit is noted for its extensive run-off areas. While these have been criticised by some for insufficiently penalising driver errors, they serve the practical purpose of preventing wind-blown sand from accumulating on the racing surface. The circuit is broadly regarded as one of the safest in Formula One.
A distinctive feature of podium ceremonies at the Bahrain Grand Prix is the replacement of champagne with Waard, a non-alcoholic rosewater drink, in deference to local customs.
The race has been cancelled or disrupted on multiple occasions, in each instance due to external political or health events.
The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, originally scheduled for 13 March, was postponed on 21 February 2011 following the outbreak of civil unrest linked to the wider Arab Spring protests. After a contentious attempt by the FIA to reinstate the race for 30 October of that year — opposed by teams, drivers including Mark Webber, and human rights organisations, and met with a 300,000-signature boycott petition — organisers formally abandoned the attempt on 9 June 2011. Damon Hill urged Formula One not to reinstate the event, warning that proceeding would forever associate the sport with repressive methods.
In 2012, human rights groups again called for the race's cancellation amid reports of ongoing use of excessive force by Bahraini authorities. Activist Salah Abbas Habib was killed during a demonstration on the eve of the Grand Prix; photojournalist Ahmed Ismael Hassan al-Samadi was fatally shot while covering an anti-Grand Prix protest. Despite senior team members anonymously voicing opposition and the hacktivist group Anonymous threatening cyberattacks, the 2012 race proceeded on 22 April.
Human rights organisations have continued to criticise the event in subsequent years. Photographer Ahmed Humaidan was among approximately 30 people jailed following the 2012 demonstrations. Activist Najah Ahmed Yousif was imprisoned and physically and sexually abused after criticising the Grand Prix on social media. In 2018, Formula One stated it was "concerned" for Yousif, but no substantive follow-up was reported. A coalition led by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy has characterised the Grand Prix as a focal point for protest suppression and an instrument of sportswashing. In October 2022, the Institute filed a legal complaint against Formula One through the UK National Contact Point, alleging breach of OECD guidelines after F1 announced the 2036 contract extension.
The 2020 Grand Prix was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, initially with no spectators permitted, then moved to November and held as part of a double-header. The second 2020 race used the outer layout and was named the Sakhir Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton publicly criticised Formula One's decision to host two races in Bahrain that year, urging the sport to face its responsibilities on human rights.
The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for 12 April, was cancelled on 14 March due to risks arising from the 2026 Iran war.
The Bahrain Grand Prix established the template for Formula One's expansion into the Gulf states and the broader Middle East. Its debut in 2004 opened a region that subsequently hosted further grands prix in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. At the same time, the event became one of the most prominent examples in sport of the tension between commercial expansion and human rights accountability, with the debates it generated influencing how the sport and its regulators publicly approach the politics of host nations.