The rounds were the first time the GP2 Series has visited the Bahrain International Circuit since 2007.

The circuit was a regular fixture on the calendar of the now-defunct GP2 Asia Series from its inception in 2008 until 2011, when the race was cancelled due to anti-government protests.

In the week before the first race, Barwa Addax driver Josef Král was replaced by Dani Clos.

[4] Brendon Hartley also replaced Ocean Racing Technology's Jon Lancaster.

The first race was also the first time that the series introduced the points system used by Formula One since 2010 for the feature race, with points awarded to the top ten drivers and twenty-five points awarded to the race winner.