Formula 1 roars back to life this week as 2024 pre-season testing commences on Wednesday in the barren landscape and scorching sands of Bahrain.
From February 21st to 23rd, the desert kingdom transforms into a crucible of proof of concept, aero designs and performance where ten teams unveil their all-new iterations or evolutions for the upcoming championship battle.
Red Bull's dominant 2023 season might not have provided a nail-biting finale, but it did leave lingering questions: can they maintain their iron grip, or will the tide turn?
Can the highly awaited new Mercedes W15 reclaim its team's lost glory, with George Russell possibly taking the reins ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari at the end of the season?
Will Ferrari finally succeed in fielding a consistent contender, capable of fighting for race wins and not just pole positions?
Meanwhile, McLaren will aim to build on its impressive second half in 2023, while Aston Martin will seek to attach itself once again to F1’s train of front-runners.
There will be surprises, both good and bad, setbacks and struggles up and down the pitlane, and the odd chance of one big team getting it wrong and one lower tier contender getting it very right.
And as usual, there will also be those who will be reluctant to show their hand with sandbagging the name of the game.
One constant will remain however: for the first time in Formula 1 history, not a single driver has changed teams or left the grid since last season.
Schedule:
The action at the Bahrain International Circuit will start every day at 07:00 GMT (08:00 CET) and drivers will run until 11:00 GMT (12:00 CET), after which teams will enjoy a one-hour lunch break with the running resuming at 12:00 GMT (13:00 CET) and concluding at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET). So that's eight hours of running overall per day.
Where can I watch?
Fans in the UK and in Ireland will be able to watch the entire Bahrain test on Sky Sports F1, while F1 TV will stream the action in countries where the online platform is available.
We will of course bring you updates, reports and pictures throughout each session as well as a late-afternoon summary of the day's action.
Provisional Driver line-ups for Bahrain F1 pre-season test:
| Wednesday February 21 | Thursday February 22 | Friday February 23 |
| Red Bull | ||
| AM Max Verstappen PM Max Verstappen | AM Sergio Perez PM Max Verstappen | AM Sergio Perez PM Sergio Perez |
| Mercedes | ||
| AM George Russell PM George Russell | AM Lewis Hamilton PM Lewis Hamilton | AM Lewis Hamilton PM George Russell |
| Ferrari | ||
| AM Charles Leclerc PM Carlos Sainz | AM Charles Leclerc PM Carlos Sainz | AM Carlos Sainz PM Charles Leclerc |
| McLaren | ||
| AM Oscar Piastri PM Lando Norris | AM Oscar Piastri PM Lando Norris | AM Lando Norris PM Oscar Piastri |
| Aston Martin F1 | ||
| AM Fernando Alonso PM Lance Stroll | AM Fernando Alonso PM Lance Stroll | AM Lance Stroll PM Fernando Alonso |
| Alpine | ||
| AM Esteban Ocon PM Pierre Gasly | AM Pierre Gasly PM Esteban Ocon | AM Esteban Ocon PM Pierre Gasly |
| Williams | ||
| AM Alex Albon PM Logan Sargeant | AM Logan Sargeant PM Alex Albon | AM Alex Albon PM Logan Sargeant |
| Visa Cash App RB | ||
| AM Daniel Ricciardo PM Yuki Tsunoda | AM Yuki Tsunoda PM Daniel Ricciardo | AM Daniel Ricciardo PM Yuki Tsunoda |
| Sauber | ||
| AM Valtteri Bottas PM Zhou Guanyu | AM Zhou Guanyu PM Valtteri Bottas | AM Valtteri Bottas PM Zhou Guanyu |
| Haas | ||
| AM Kevin Magnussen PM Nico Hulkenberg | AM Nico Hulkenberg PM Kevin Magnussen | AM Kevin Magnussen PM Nico Hulkenberg |
