F1 pre-season testing: Driver line-ups for Bahrain

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After a busy winter, Formula 1 teams will put themselves in gear on Friday at the Bahrain International Circuit as the 5.412-kilomtere Sakhir track hosts three days of pre-season testing

The action starts at 10am local time (7am GMT) running for four hours before a one hour break, and then continuing to 7pm (4pm GMT) each day. The final hour is due to take place with the floodlights on to replicate the conditions of the Bahrain Grand Prix night race.

Some teams have opted to divide the day between their drivers, while others have allocated a full day of running before splitting duties on Day 3.

Among F1's ten teams, Williams is the only outfit that has assigned track time to its test driver, or Roy Nissany, over the course of the three sessions.

Finally, only three teams - Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and Williams - head into the 2021 season with an unchanged driver line-up, which only underscores for the remaining seven outfits the importance of enjoying a trouble-free three days of mileage in Bahrain ahead of F1's opening round at Sakhir on March 28.

Friday March 12	Saturday March 13	Sunday March 14
Mercedes F1 - W12
AM Valtteri Bottas PM Lewis Hamilton	AM Lewis Hamilton PM Valtteri Bottas	AM Valtteri Bottas PM Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull - RB16B
Max Verstappen	Sergio Perez	AM Sergio Perez PM Max Verstappen
McLaren - MCL35M
AM Daniel Ricciardo PM Lando Norris	AM Daniel Ricciardo PM Lando Norris	AM Lando Norris PM Daniel Ricciardo
Aston Martin - AMR21
AM Sebastian Vettel PM Lance Stroll	AM Sebastian Vettel PM Lance Stroll	AM Lance Stroll PM Sebastian Vettel
Alpine - A521
Esteban Ocon	Fernando Alonso	AM Esteban Ocon PM Fernando Alonso
Ferrari - SF21
AM Charles Leclerc PM Carlos Sainz	TBC	TBC
Scuderia AlphaTauri - AT02
AM Pierre Gasly PM Yuki Tsunoda	AM Yuki Tsunoda PM Pierre Gasly	AM Pierre Gasly PM Yuki Tsuonoda
Alfa Romeo C41
AM Kimi Raikkonen PM Antonio Giovinazzi	Antonio Giovinazzi	Kimi Raikkonen
Haas F1 Team - VF-21
AM Mick Schumacher PM Nikita Mazepin	AM Nikita Mazepin PM Mick Schumacher	AM Mick Schumacher PM Nikita Mazepin
Williams F1 - FW43B
Roy Nissany	Nicholas Latifi	George Russell

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.