Bahrain F1 Testing: All you need to know and how to watch live
F1 NewsWednesday, 22 February 2023 at 13:39
We welcome 2023 Formula 1 Testing in Bahrain this week, when we finally witness the new cars on track and get an early look at who may be in trouble and who not...
Great news if you're an F1TV subscriber or have a Sky Sport package because you are set for three days of non-stop live F1 Testing action. However, US-based ESPN and Australia's Fox Sports will not broadcast the live coverage to their fanbase.
F1 Testing! It is often said that too much can be read into the days of tarmac pounding; I beg to differ, we knew Ferrari and Red Bull were going to be quick and Mercedes before the season began, thanks to what we surmised from testing.
Haas, from Nowehereland, lucked on a good design out of the box last year, which became evident in testing. Kevin Magnussen got a handle on it early on while Mick Schumacher did not. Basically, we got a feel for who got it right over winter and who will be chasing it for the rest of the year.
The schedule provides a mere three days for the two drivers to share driving duty between 8:00 am until 17:30 pm (local time +3 GMT) from Thursday to Saturday, at the Bahrain Grand Prix venue, with a one-hour lunch pause for marshals and the F1 crews to get lunch.
Drivers have to get as much mileage as possible, so any team that suffers a breakdown or worse a shunt - remember when Pierre Gasly set Red Bull and himself back substantially when he pranged during testing in Barcelona back in 2019 - stoppage time of any sort will immediately be on the back foot as no more testing will happen after Saturday.
In terms of pecking order sandbagging and the like, it would be easy to surmise that if someone has a weapon of mass destruction they would flaunt it, other than that with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull expected to be closer than ever, with the constantly tightening F1 midfield teams chasing, one imagines games will be played in terms of pecking order.
Nevertheless, be sure we will have a fair idea of who will be where and whereabouts, after three days of running at Sakhir.
F1TV has the following posted on their scheduled shows for the week ahead:
Having hosted the nation's F1 race since 2004, Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) has increasingly become the venue of choice for preseason testing, logistics ahead of the season opener on 5 March are cited as the reason.
While the weather at this time of the year in the Middle East is relatively moderate, the almost unbearable heat coming in the months ahead, and it seems that the mid-twenties is where the mercury will hover for the upcoming days.
Which, failing a dust storm that can brew up off the weatherman's radar, the BIC should be fine for testing as it has the long straights and twisty bits that mimic most modern tracks and some older ones too, plus it's logical to run it there because the season opener is in 11 days time at the same place.
Unlike last years the rules remain the same, hence the car revelations were hardly mind-boggling, but we did get a look at the liveries, some gorgeous, others not. But there is a rid-height change for the trained eye to look out for; supposedly to reduce the 'porpoising' scourge in the name of safety, at quite and unnecessary expense.. depending on who you believe.
There will be mind-games and the usual F1 Testing cat-and-mouse shenanigans
As for other points of interest, Sky F1 reports that "changes to the cars revolve around outlawing designs such as Aston Martin's rear wing and Mercedes' front wing from 2023, and more safety additions. he roll hoops, for example, have been strengthened following Zhou Guanyu's dramatic crash at Silverstone last year."
Expect aero rakes and the dayglo flow-viz paint aplenty as teams gobble up as much aerodynamic data as possible in the relatively short time allotted to these F1 cars before they are run in anger.
There will be long runs happening at the same time as qualy runs, every driver and team will be on a different run programme which will almost make the timesheets redundant, but there is a tendency for the cream to rise to the top, and if they don't we will sense it, while the rest will keep striving.
Ahead of tomorrow's opening day of F1 testing, there was already bad news from the Aston Martin camp who confirmed Lance Stroll has pulled out of the test after a bike accident, with Felipe Drugovich subbing for the Canadian.
We will be providing the usual coverage with a midday report, incident and updates should they emerge, followed by a day-end report and feedback from teams and drivers. If F1 Testing live timing is made available legally for embedding we make use of it.
At the end of 2022 Bahrain F1 testing this is how the timesheets looked:
Looking at the F1 testing times above from last season, what we read in them was that Verstappen was hot and duly he became 2022 F1 World Champion; Haas were fast but we knew it would not last; Ferrari looked fast but maybe sandbagging, which they were; Alpine were best of the rest at the end of the final day and were so at the end of the final race, as the stats show.
#F1Testing is trending on Twitter, below are some of the choice posts:
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