Barcelona to host 2017 pre-season tests

Formula One will continue to hold two four-day pre-season tests at the Circuit Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in February and March, it has been confirmed.

Barcelona has long hosted the official pre-season tests, but there had been suggestions that one or both tests should be moved to Bahrain in the Middle East to take advantage of warmer and drier weather.

"Our preference would be a hotter location," Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery explained earlier this month. "It would be better to head somewhere with a representative temperature, and in Europe we don't get that.

"In Barcelona, for example, the temperature is quite a bit below what you would get during a race, so we'd prefer to go somewhere like Bahrain."

However Formula One teams have decided to stick with Barcelona for 2017, apparently deciding that it remained the most practical option available to them according to Motorsport.com.

The first test will be held from Monday February 27 until Thursday March 2, with a second test scheduled for the the following week from Tuesday March 7 until Friday March 10.

The first pre-season test will be the first time that the 2017 regulation cars are seen by the press and public, although teams will also be able to run private shakedowns before that.

The Australian Grand Prix is expected to be confirmed as the first race of the 2017 season in Melbourne on March 26.

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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.