The Formula 1 season is about to begin on Thursday, with the pre-season testing in Bahrain. All the teams would be sending their roaring on the tarmac. It would be the first insight ahead of the new season unfolding from the first week of March.
The teams will host a camp for three long days and implement all the developments they did during the off-season. They would want to get as many miles under their bank so that they get enough data before they make the first competitive appearance of the 2023 season and make amends accordingly.
The teams, at least the top teams, are usually hesitant to roar out their full potential. In short, they also do sandbagging, so the teams undermine them before the season starts.
But surely, it gives a slight hint on how the rest of the season would work. Last year, Mercedes was having some fundamental issues with their aero-concepts. That signalled that they might struggle ahead, even though it was hard to believe, seeing their track record and habit of not revealing everything on the first day.
@MercedesAMGF1 me watching the sandbagging 😂 #f1 #f1preseasontesting pic.twitter.com/2Db9gmadjT
— Sir TreVaughn (@trevaughnw_d) March 14, 2021
But actually, they ended up going out of the championship. So, testing is a crucial phase, and the fans shouldn’t miss it as it will be telecasted from Thursday to Saturday. Therefore, below are the telecast details of the pre-season testing schedule.
How To Watch the F1 Testing: Where will the F1 testing in Bahrain be shown in the US, UK, Canada and Australia?
F1 is one of those sports that’s followed globally, and its prominence has filled its hole in North America. The followings are the telecast and streaming details of the upcoming F1 event in Bahrain.
| Country | Channel | Online Stream | Timing |
| United States | ESPN | F1 TV, Hulu, SlingTV, ESPN app | 2 AM-11:30 AM ET |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports F1 | SkyGo | 7 AM-4:30 PM GMT |
| Australia | FoxSports, Kayo Sports | Foxtel | 6 PM-3:30 AM AEDT |
| Canada | RDS, TSN, NOVO | – | 2 AM-11:30 AM ET |
Considering all three days, the sessions would go on for around nine and a half hours with only one hour break in between. The fans would have a whole day to get into the live action and follow their team’s progress.
What to know about pre-season testing?
The pre-season testing is a hectic schedule for all the teams. Drivers get into action for a long off-season break for the first time in the season. Before that, they have only brief runs, which aren’t enough to get back in the rhythm.
Meanwhile, it also gives a chance to the teams to seek some vital issues in their system. In aggregate, the entire grid has 25.5 hours in its bag to run. Thus, it’s a massive chunk of time in everyone’s hands to fulfil their objective.
However, teams are allowed to run only one car at a time so that equal distribution of time happens among all the teams and doesn’t result in extreme traffic at any point in time.
Also read: Jenson Button Once Revealed How Former McLaren Star Was an ‘Awkward Teammate’
