Bahrain F1 Testing 2021: driver line-up and schedule

Formula 1 will be returning to the track this month for the 2021 season.

This means the new 2021 F1 cars will for the first time hit the track as a group for the pre-season testing which will happen over the weekend although things have slightly changed as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The pre-testing session will take place in Bahrain at the Sakhir International Stadium and not at Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona as it was the tradition. All these changes were made to ensure easier movement of people because the season opener will also happen in Bahrain a month later. The Australian round which normally is the season opener was postponed due to the pandemic.

The 2021 pre-season will only be one which will comprise of three testing days; Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The time frame has also been set for the three days; the first session will be from 10:00-14:00 while the second will start from 15:00-19:00 local time giving only one hour for lunch break.

Testing would normally start from 0800hrs to 1700hrs but this time round there will be an opportunity to run for a night-time run as the sunset falls around 1745hrs.

With such little running, the teams will be very keen to make the most out of the track to test the minor modifications they have added to their new cars.

Full-time drivers will get the bulk of the limited test runs with only Williams confirming that they will run one of their test drivers, Roy Nissany for the Friday session but George Russell and Nicholas Latifi will take over Saturday and Sunday.

Some teams have opted to split running on more than one day, with drivers swapping after the lunch break. So far only a handful of teams have confirmed their plans.

2021 F1 Testing Driver Line-Up