• Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Parade of champions planned for Bahrain

Damon Hill will drive an F1 car from the 1990s in the parade of champions © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Bahrain Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Jenson Button
• |
• Mika Häkkinen
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Damon Hill
• |
• Niki Lauda
• |
• Nigel Mansell
• |
• Nelson Piquet
• |
• Alain Prost
• |
• Kimi Räikkönen
• |
• Keke Rosberg
• |
• Michael Schumacher
• |
• Jacques Villeneuve
• |
• Jacques Villeneuve snr

Only two living former world champions - Nelson Piquet and Kimi Raikkonen - appear likely to be missing at next weekend's Formula One season opener in Bahrain. Last month, the race's organisers announced that all 20 living title winners would attend as part of the sport's 60th anniversary celebrations.

If Jacques Villeneuve is driving for the hopeful Stefan GP, the 2010 grid will already be boasting five of the champions, including Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and 2009 winner Jenson Button.

The others confirmed for Bahrain are Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, Alan Jones, Jody Scheckter, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart and John Surtees.

Eighty-three year-old Sir Jack Brabham, the oldest living world champion, will also be in Bahrain, and the late Juan Manuel Fangio's nephew and namesake will be representing the great Argentinean.

Piquet and Raikkonen, who has switched full time to the world rally championship, have yet to respond to the invitation.

Also at the circuit will be more than 20 of the cars driven by the sport's legends. "We expect the majority of the 20 plus cars to be displayed on track and, where possible, be driven by the original world champion," circuit advisor Martin Whitaker told the Gulf Daily News.

Damon Hill will be on track representing the cars of the 1990s, and so his son Josh will drive the Lotus 49 as raced by his grandfather and two-time champion, Graham.

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