Formula 1 and the FIA have announced the dates for 2026 pre-season testing, with three tests set to take place prior to the campaign getting underway.
Test one will be a private test and will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya between January 26th – 30th, while test two will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit between February 11th – 13th.
The Bahrain International Circuit also hosts test three from February 18th – 20th, before the season begins in Australia on March 6th – 8th.
It has also been confirmed in a calendar update that, following a request from the Azerbaijan promoter and relevant government stakeholders, Formula 1 and the FIA have agreed to move the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Sunday September 27th to Saturday 26th to accommodate a national day.
Formula 1 and governing body the FIA have announced that the Bahrain International Circuit will be hosting three days of pre-season testing in 2025 on February 26th – 28th.
The track has hosted pre-season testing on six separate occasions since 2009, with its consistent weather conditions, mixture of high and low speed corners, and two long straights enabling F1 teams to gather maximum data for the campaign ahead.
Arriving on the calendar back in 2004, Bahrain was the Middle Eastern venue to host an F1 race and celebrated its 20th anniversary with the 2024 edition of the event.
In the 20 years since the first Grand Prix the 5.41km circuit has delivered nine winners from five different teams, with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc all claiming victory from the current grid.
The 24 round 2025 F1 season – which will mark 75 years of Formula 1 – is set to kick off with the Australian Grand Prix from March 14th – 16th and conclude with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the weekend of December 5th – 7th, taking in trips to five of the world’s seven continents.
The first race of the season is complete, let’s take a look at how it went…
Everyone bar hard-shod Kevin Magnussen began the race on soft tyres and Verstappen had a solid getaway, but teammate Perez fell back and lost second place to Leclerc.
The reigning champion stretched his legs in the lead and eventually won by more than 10 seconds. Perez made it a one-two with both drivers on similar soft-soft-hard strategies.
Whilst Fernando Alonso, went on a warpath as on Lap 45 he passed Sainz after a stunning battle to get on the podium, his first since Qatar 2021 and his first with Aston Martin.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Alonso, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Stroll, P7: Russell, P8: Bottas, P9: Gasly and P10: Albon.
A good start to the season for the reigning constructors champions, it’ll be interesting to see if any tracks maybe don’t suit them and if they have any reliability issues.
Aston Martin have made a big improvement from last year, hopefully they can keep the momentum running and keep the streak going.
Not the best race for Ferrari, with Leclerc having a problem and retiring it isn’t the best start to the season especially if they want to challenge for the Championship.
A little shout-out to the highest placed rookie. Logan Sargeant finished 12th on his debut, not a bad first race for the American.
The first Qualifying session is complete at the Bahrain International Circuit, as it was an intense and hotly contested session under the Sakhir lights.
Max Verstappen took pole position, with his teammate, Sergio Perez making it an all Red Bull front row lock out. Charles Leclerc rounds out the top three.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Leclerc, P4: Sainz, P5: Alonso, P6: Russell, P7: Hamilton, P8: Stroll, P9: Ocon and P10: Hulkenberg.
Lando Norris missed out on Q3 by a couple of tenths as he started to make up for a tricky pre-season test. I think it will be interesting to see how he can do in the car whilst on race pace.
Rookie, Logan Sargeant almost joined his teammate in Q2 for the first time of asking, but he set an identical time to 15th place Norris towards the end of Q1, as the American set it second it meant to he was out.
Something I didn’t expect to see was Pierre Gasly out in Q1 but the Frenchman starting P20 on the grid, as he had a lap time deleted.
A shoutout to Hulkenberg though, starting P10 on his first race back, he already looks comfortable in the car so if he can keep this going for not just the race this weekend but throughout the season, Haas shouldn’t have a problem with being in the midfield.
Predictions-
My top five predictions are: P1: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Alonso, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.
I feel like we all know roughly the four teams that are at the top for this first race, but we won’t get a true idea for race pace until later on.
There’s always some drama on the first race so if some drivers are clever they will optimise on the misfortune of others.
Round 1 is here, and we have had cars back on track finally! So here is a round up from all the action on Day 1.
Practice-
Gabriel Bortoleto began his Formula 3 campaign in fine form as he topped the timing sheets in the opening Free Practice session in Sakhir.
The Brazilian looked at home in his Trident car as he set a 1:47.775 to go 0.075s clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Gabriele Mini – an all rookie top two.
As the clock approached 23 minutes, a flurry of cars headed out of the pits to put their times on times on the board, which saw Bortoleto for a swift moment become the driver to beat ahead of Mini.
The top three from qualifying are: P1: Gabriel Bortoleto, P2: Grabiele Mini and P3: Gregoire Saucy, one thing to keep an eye on is track evolution as its expected to be a major factor in Qualifying.
Qualifying-
Gabriele Mini began his F3 career in fashion as he stormed to his first pole position of his championship debut. The HiTech Pule-Eight driver’s late effort of 1:47.055 couldn’t be matched as less than half a second separated the top 17 runners.
It was clear the field were pushing to the limit as Bortoleto took to the top spot however he became the first of many drivers to fall foul of track limits.
Times continued to tumble, as Mini launched himself half a second clear of Collet. Laying down a 1:47.118, then with three minutes remaining the Alpine junior delivered another lap which was a 1:47.055.
The order then continued to change, as the trio of PREMA cars rose up into the top six. And Bortoleto being a man on a mission to then launch himself up into second after the track limits violation.
The top three were: P1: Gabriele Mini, P2: Gabriel Bortoleto, P3: Gregoire Saucy. But looking toward the sprint race, Williams junior, Franco Colapinto grabs reverse grid pole as he qualified 12th.
The first round is here, and we are at the Bahrain International Circuit for Round 1 out of 23.
This season we have three rookies joining the grid, and a lot of changes within the teams and the drivers as well as having the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But who will be the world champion? Can Max Verstappen make it 3 in a row? Or will Ferrari finally end their 16 year drought and grab the championship? Will Mercedes be back on form and fight at the top?
Who needs to shine?
Guanyu Zhou is going into his second year as an F1 driver, he will be wanting to prove a lot more as he was quite unlucky last season.
This year we will be having three new rookies to the grid, Oscar Piastri for McLaren, Logan Sargeant for Williams and Nyck de Vries for Alpha Tauri. Three different cars for three different drivers, it will be interesting to see how they do as Piastri comes from a year out of racing, Sargeant from racing in F2 and de Vries from Formula E.
And we have Nico Hulkenberg who is returning to the sport after leaving at the end of 2019, but making several appearances since then as well as being a reserve and development driver.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hamilton, P5: Alonso.
I think we all know that it’s going to be Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes fighting at the top but I think it will be even closer in the midfield.
Times for the weekend-
Friday 3rd-
Free Practice F3: 07:55am – 08:40am, Free Practice F2: 09:05am – 09:50am, Free Practice 1 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Qualifying F3: 13:00pm – 13:30pm, Free Practice 2 F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm, Qualifying F2: 16:30pm – 17:00pm (GMT).
The tyres for the first round of the 2023 season have been chosen as the new C1 makes its debut this weekend.
This year, Pirelli has expanded the range of available compounds to six, with three still chosen for every race. The brand new C1 compound fills the gap between the hardest C0 (used as the C1 in 2022) and the C2 which is unchanged from last year.
The selection is: C1 (Hard tyre), C2 (Medium tyre), C3 (Soft tyre). The teams will have at their disposal two sets of hard tyres, three sets of mediums and eight sets of soft per car.
The Bahrain International Circuit, features some of the most abrasive asphalt of the year while the track – consisting of low to medium speed corners – mainly places traction and braking demands on the tyres. The layout also requires a good level of stability at the rear of the car.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, takes place on a circuit surrounded by the Sakhir desert. Wind can sometimes blow sand onto the track, which can affect the grip levels during the sessions.
The support races include Formula 2 and Formula 3, with them resulting rubber laid down influencing track evolution.
Tyre degradation will be a key factor when it comes to deciding the strategy. Last season, all the drivers bar one stopped three times (rather than the anticipated two-stopper) due to a late race safety car.
Everything you need to know about the tyres ahead of this week's #BahrainGP 🇧🇭🤓
Morning– Everyone was out of the garages immediately, but it was Tommy Smith who was the first to put a laptime on the board for VAR, with the Australian’s 1:51.521 was the only time on the board in the opening hour.
With just over half an hour remaining, the track began to fill up. Nikita Bedrin was the first beneath the 1:50s, but plenty followed. Gregoire Saucy managed to better the Jenzer Motorsport driver’s time, beating it fractionally with a 1:51.155.
Luke Browning was the busiest driver of the session, logging 29 laps in the Hitech Pulse Eight.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy, ART Grand Prix, P2: Taylor Barnard, Jenzer Motorsport, P3: Zak O’Sullivan, PREMA Racing.
Afternoon– A much faster start to the afternoon followed, with all teams bar Hitech Pulse-Eight immediately out on track. Gabriel Bortoleto set the early pace on a 1:49.366. It put him 0.241s ahead of Collet in P2.
With just under an hour and a half remaining, Gabriele Mini went fastest and then beat his own time to go onto a 1:48.453.
PREMA made a leap up on the table as the grid entered the final 45 minutes of running, Paul Aron closed to within 0.033s of Mini’s table-topping time before going P1 with a 1:47.889.
Saucy lowered the time to beat to a 1:47,563 inside the final 10 minutes as plenty of personal best times filtered through, but the ART driver remained fastest to the chequered flag.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy, ART Grand Prix, P2: Paul Aron, PREMA Racing, P3: Josep Maria Marti, Campos Racing.
Day 2-
Morning– Sophia Florsch led the way out of the garages for the morning session. Gabriele Bortoleto put in a 1:47.808 to go quickest in the opening minutes. Gregoire Saucy slotted in two-tenths behind and Taylor Barnard third.
The ART Grand Prix driver didn’t take long to retake the top spot with a 1:46.697. But with an hour and a half to go, the only red flag of the morning session after Alejandro Garcia stopped on track at Turn 6.
Once the track went back to green, Dino Beganovic, Grabiele Mini and Bortoleto could hardly be split in second, third and fourth places respectively.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix, P2: Dino Beganovic PREMA Racing, P3: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight.
Afternoon– Hunter Yeany led the way for the afternoon running, as Josep Maria Marti topped the timing sheets early on. The second red flag of the day was shown, due to Saucy stopping out on track but the session was soon underway.
Marti broke into the 1:49s to extend his advantage at the top, before a second red flag of the session was for Oliver Gray. The session then went back to green with an hour 45 minutes remaining.
Times began to improve once more as the sun began to set, with Bortoleto returning to the top of the timing screens with a 1:48.388. Mini then moved back into P1 with just over half an hour left, with teammate Sebastian Montoya joining him in second.
The top three are: P1: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight, P2: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix, P3: Sebastian Montoya Hitech Pule-Eight.
Day 3-
The extended session got underway with Rafael Villagomez taking the top spot in the early laps, but it didn’t take long for Saucy to return to the summit.
Bortoleto was next to take over P1, going just under a tenth clear of Saucy with a 1:47.417 less than an hour gone. Paul Aron moved PREMA Racing inside the top three as the first hour elapsed. Hugh Barter and Dino Beganovic were spearated by 0.004s in fourth and fifth.
Approaching the halfway stage of the final day, ART Grand Prix kept their drivers busiest, logging over 80 laps. Saucy remained second ahead of Kaylen Frederick and Nikola Tsolov, ninth and 10th respectively.
Race runs became the focus for everyone, with the grid logging the mileage on multiple lap runs. It continued that way as the clock ticked into the final hour. Caio Collet broke the 50 lap barrier first, with 30 minutes remaining.
The top 3 are: P1: Gabriel Bortoleto Trident, P2: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight, P3: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix.
WHAT A RACE!!! So much drama and I have no clue where to start! Mr Charles Leclerc turned his pole position into the race win, making it Ferrari’s first win since 2019! His teammate made it a 1-2! And Lewis Hamilton made up the final podium spot in P3!
Verstappen who started P2, attempted to undercut the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on lap 15, cutting down what was 3.5s gap to just 0.35s when Leclerc emerged in the lead on Lap 16. That then triggered a three lap box strategy set to come into play.
The full top 10 are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Magnussen, P6: Bottas, P7: Ocon, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Alonso, P10: Zhou.
Pierre Gasly brought out the Safety Car on lap 46, as he stopped his Alpha Tauri on the side of the track as it had flames. This started a flurry of pit stops.
Red Bull, looked set to take a podium and 4th, but it all went wrong when Max started reporting problems on Lap 44 just before a safety car but when the safety car went in he had to retire on lap 55 as the problem did not go… Then Perez was reporting problems as well, he ended up spinning at Turn 1 when his engine gave way on the last lap…
It’s not looking good for Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, it looked like Gasly’s was an electrical fire- but to have both RB’s to go out with some what a power unit issue it makes you think could this be a knock on effect for furture races?
Where to start with McLaren… Obviously not good with qualifying yesterday but today in the race it seemed like they was pulling everything out of the car and wasn’t getting further. I think they are still battling their problems from testing- and once they do battle them I do believe they will have a good car.
Kevin Magnussen in his first race back- scoring 5th! What a comeback for him and the Haas team, they are definitely looking like they are in the mid-field battle. Mick finished 11th- making it his career best finish and just missing out on points!
Alfa Romeo too, looking like a midfield team, Bottas scoring his first points for the team and Zhou Guanyu scoring his first ever points and on his debut too.
Not long to wait until the next race, as it is next weekend and we are back in Saudi Arabia for Round 2. Will Ferrari be victorious again? If so will it be Charles or will Carlos get his first ever F1 win? It’s all to play for!
Trident had only took their first F2 podium in the 2021 season, and hadn’t stood on the top step since 2016 GP2 campaign, but new recruit Verschoor had upped the chances by starting P2.
Drugovich tumbled down the timesheets to sixth as Ralph Boschung but his Campos in P2 after starting P6. The action was brought to a half as a Safety Car come out due to Marcus Armstrong being tagged by Jake Hughes. The Van Amersfoort driver was handed a 10 second time penalty.
Verschoor aced the restart as he pulled himself out of the DRS range, behind him Pourchaire didn’t have much luck as he was forced to enter the pits and retire from 5th.
Daruvala had been waiting to make a move on Boschung for 2nd and managed to stick ahead before VSC came out, due to Hughes coming to a stop on the gravel. Clement Novalak had made contact with the British driver and the MP Motorsport driver was handed a 10s time penalty.
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Richard Verschoor
MP Motorsport
10
2
Jehan Daruvala
PREMA Racing
8
3
Liam Lawson
Carlin
6
4
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing
5
5
Felipe Drugovich
MP Motorsport
4
Top 5 finishers
Day 3-
Vips took the chance to take the lead of the race, as the front row had horrible starts with Boschung added in there as well. THe ones on the alternate strategy all benefited off the line with Williams, Armstrong, Caldwell and Iwasa gaining multiple positions.
The first safety car arrived three laps in as Frederick Vesti was spun to a stop. The pit stops then started, and Vips luck turned as he had a slow pit stop and put him down to 12th. This meant that Doohan basically got handed the lead- although he got through the pit stop unscathed he got tangled up with Pourchaire on his return to the track and suffered damage to his front wing meaning he had to pit again.
A five car tussle for 10th resulted in another Safety car, as Enzo Fittipaldi tagged Richard Verschoor making him stop. A flurry of activity in the pit lane led to two further retirements as Hauger and Williams both lost a tyre during their teams attempt to get them back out on track.
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Theo Pourchaire
ART Grand Prix
25
2
Liam Lawson
Carlin
18
3
Juri Vips
HiTech Grand Prix
15
4
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing
12
5
Marcus Armstrong
HiTech Grand Prix
10
Top 5 finishers
F2 hasn’t got long to wait till more action on track, they will be returning next weekend for the second round of the season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia!
As the red light went out, O’Sullivan was automatically having to defend from Bearman on the run into the first corner. However further back in the pack, Roman Stanek and pole sitter for the Feature race- Franco Colapinto collided and were forced to pit for repairs.
Arthur Leclerc was the standout mover as he found himself up in 9th following the opening laps after starting 13th.
There was a 3 way battle between the ART Grand Prix team-mates but it was Saucy and Martins who collided at Turn 1 fighting for P8, both had to return to the pitlane but both were forced to retire.
Moments after this, Bearman made his overtake on O’Sullivan stick through Turn 4. Bearman’s team mate Leclerc still continued his charge as he progressed into 7th.
Lap 10 saw Hadjar move up into third as he went past Smolyar. O’ Sullivan’s pace started to drop he fell into a pack of drivers, which ended with Maloney and Hadjar moving past the Williams Academy driver.
Ollie Bearman crossed the line in P1 but due to a 5 second time penalty it meant that he was demoted to P2, and Isack Hadjar took the first win of the year!
Positon
Driver
Team
Points
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
10
2
Ollie Bearman
PREMA Racing
9
3
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
8
4
Zane Maloney
Trident
8
5
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
6
Top 5 finishers.
Day 3-
Even though he qualifying result was a shock, it was set to be a harder task for Colapinto to hold onto the victory. In the opening stages of the race, the Argentine looked very comfortable in the lead, however its never smooth sailing in F3 as he had to deal with a safety car restart, which was required after Pizzi and Maloney coming to a stop on the circuit on the opening lap due to a bit of contact.
Caio Collet was a victim of the first lap drama, as he broke his front suspension while driving over a kerb at Turn 7, as he tried to avoid potential contact with rivals. At the Safety Car restart, Martins overtook Stanek for P2 but the Trident driver would be soon eliminated as he made contact with Alex Smolyar.
Juan Manuel Correa appeared to have rapid pace as he moved into the top three after overtaking Smolyar, with the latter also soon found himself to be behind Leclerc who was on the mission.
It was Victor Martins who took the win, with Leclerc making up 11 positions to finish 2nd!
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
25
2
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
18
3
Gregiore Saucy
ART Grand Prix
15
4
Juan Manuel Correa
ART Grand Prix
12
5
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
10
Top 5 finishers.
F3 will be back in just over a month, 22nd to 24th of April for the second round in Imola, Italy!
Well, that was a madness of a qualifying session! WOW, with these new cars it could of been anyone’s, but it looked like it was going to Max Verstappen’s but it was not…
Charles Leclerc takes his 10th pole position and second at the Bahrain International Circuit, as he beat Max Verstappen to the top spot by 0.123s. It was Carlos Sainz who took P3 making it a very strong start for the Italian team.
The top 10 are- P1: Charles Leclerc, P2: Max Verstappen, P3: Carlos Sainz, P4: Sergio Perez, P5: Lewis Hamilton, P6: Valterri Bottas, P7: Kevin Magnussen, P8: Fernando Alonso, P9: George Russell and P10 going to Pierre Gasly!
I think Lewis got the most out of the car today, where as George messed up on his last quali lap missing the breaking zone in Turn 1, hence why he qualified 9th. I would say I’m most intrigued to see how the Mercedes race pace is tomorrow and if the porpoising affects them as much as it previously has…
Mr Valterri Bottas leaves Mercedes and goes to Alfa Romeo and with his first qualifying session with the team he goes and sticks it in 6th! Definitley seems the Ferrari power unit is a lot better this year compared to last as this bring me onto…
Kevin Magnussen!! WOW. The Haas has qualifying pace! But even with a hydraulic issue K-Mag got the car into a great position in which will be his first grand prix tomorrow in over a year! His teammate done a superb job, qualifying 12th- lets hope for some masterclass overtaking from Mick tomorrow to see him in that top 10!
McLaren… My heart breaks for them- they showed so much pace in Barcelona testing, then it went downhill last week in the Official Pre-Season test with their breaks and Ricciardo having covid set them off on the back foot. Norris starts P13 and Ricciardo P18.
A quick mention for Alex Albon aswell! First time back in over a year and in a Williams so a completely new car and team to learn and he out qualifies his team mate!
Predictions for tomorrow-
I think if Charlex and Max don’t come together tomorrow afternoon then it could be Charles taking the race win- but the pair have history and have collided here…
Top 5 I think will be: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.
I do think both Haas’ will score points tomorrow and hopefully Bottas in the Alfa Romeo too. Definitely will be interesting to see the different strategies and how the pit stops will play out with the new tyres.
Novalak had initially set the first laptime of the new Formula 2 season, with the Frenchman setting a 1:48.044. He then improved with his second tour of the track but it was Jake Hughes who jumped up to take P1 and setting a 1:45.294.
Lawson’s first attempt at a flying lap put him second- half a second of Hughes, Marcus Armstrong briefly jumped ahead of him but the Carlin driver’s second attempt put him in first.
PREMA’s Daruvala pushed Lawson down to second before Armstrong jumped ahead of him too, slotting into 2nd. MP Motorsport then bumped Daruvala down to third as Drugovich went first ahead of Novalak. With less than three minutes left, DAMS were able to break the MP pair up.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Felipe Drugovich
MP Motorsport
1:44.484
2
Ayumu Iwasa
DAMS
1:44.679
3
Roy Nissany
DAMS
1:44.754
4
Clement Novalak
MP Motorsport
1:44.769
5
Marcus Armstrong
HiTech Grand Prix
1:44.833
Top 5 Free Practice
Qualifying-
All 22 cars took to the track when the lights went green but the session was red-flagged due to Iwasa’s DAMS came to a halt. Once the car was off the track, the session then resumed, Jake Hughes and Amaury Cordeel the Van Amersfoort pair led the session.
Hughes was sat in P1 after the first flying laps ended with a 1:41.469. The British driver kept on to the position as his second fast lap was enough to beat Felipe Drugovich to the top spot.
But it was Jack Doohan who put himself on pole position for Sunday’s feature race, with Theo Pourchaire in P2 and Juri Vips in P3. Felipe Drugovich will start Saturday’s Sprint race in P1, with Verschoor lining up next to him and Jake Hughes in P3.
With the teams already having some track action here for the pre-season test, the field of 30 drivers took to track so set themselves up for hopfeully a competitive weekend.
After the light went green and a few flurry of laps, it was MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet who set the fastest, however his effort was still some way of the true pace.
The times began to tumber, as the drivers gathered further experience at the Bahrain International Circuit. But it was the reigning team champions, Trident who got off to a strong start this weekend, as Roman Stanek ended Free Practice on top with a 1:48.012.
PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc moved himself up into second place, in which he was less than a tenth of a second behind Stanek. With Rookie, Gregoire Saucy launching himself into 3rd.
In the final 10 minute, there was a brief yellow flag due to Reece Ushijiam coming to a stop in sector one but was able to get his car moving again.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.012
2
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:48.090
3
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:48.099
4
Izack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.285
5
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:48.402
Top 5 Free Practice
Qualifying-
Gregoire Saucy was the first to jump to the top of the timesheets, placing himself just over one-tenth of a second in front of Roman Stanek. Most of the drivers, then returned to the pit lane as the qualifying session hit the halfway point.
With 10 minutes to go, a lot of the drivers came out of the pitlane and set their minds to some more push laps. Colapinto set a fire laptime, which saw no-one be able to replace him at the top spot.
The top 12 switch round for tomorrows sprint race, so we will have Rookie, Zak O’Sullivan on pole position, lined up next to another rookie and FDA driver, Ollie Bearman with David Vidales rounding out the top 3 for tomorrows starting grid.
We are back! Finally it’s race weekend and we are at the Bahrain Grand Prix for round 1 out of 22. Lots has happened since we was last here, new cars, new team-mates, new tyres and a new world champion!
But, who will be world champion this year? Someone new or will we see Max Verstappen defend his crown? Or will Lewis be hunting for his 8th… It’s all to play for this year and it all starts here at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Who needs to shine?
Considering its the first race of the season I would say all, but I will give you all a few of my choices!
Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda both going into their second year this season so I’d like to see them two do well across the whole weekend and it will be interesting to see if Haas have the pace and what Mick can do with it!
Guanyu Zhou, the only driver to graduate from F2 this year, so all eyes on him, with him having Valtteri Bottas as his teammate it will be interesting to see how he does compared to him.
Alex Albon, back in F1 after a year out and in a Williams, he has a lot to prove, especially showing the team that it was the right decision to bring him into the team, but Alex will also have to fight to stay in F1.
Kevin Magnussen, again a year out- but this time it’s different as he hasn’t spent his time in one of the teams sim/ going to the track for a grand prix weekend.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top 5 for qualifying are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Russell.
If Mercedes sort out their propoising I can see them being up there for pole position, but I have to give it RB and Max as they have a very fast car it seems but I do think it will be close between RB and Ferrari.
I also predict that we see a Haas in the top 10, maybe an Alfa Romeo too, this then might cause some shock Q2 exits…
Times for this weekend-
Friday 18th March-
Free Practice F3: 8:25am – 9:10am (GMT), Free Practice F2: 9:35am – 10:20am (GMT), Free Practice 1: 12:00pm – 13:00pm (GMT), Qualifying F3: 13:25pm – 13:55pm (GMT), Free Practice 2: 15:00pm – 16:00pm (GMT), Qualifying F2: 16:25pm – 16:55pm (GMT).
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the season opener in Bahrain. The four time world champion is currently doing well.
Vettel will be replaced by the team’s reserve driver, Nico Hulkenberg who will be in the car from Friday practice. This weekend will be Hulkenbergs first Grand Prix since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, when he stood in for Lance Stroll at Racing Point after the Canadian tested positive aswell.
It was the third time he filled in for a race driver that year, having replaced Sergio Perez for the two race weekends at Silverstone.
The former Renault driver will be making his 180th Grand Prix start on Sunday, in which he is still looking to break his podium duck.
The news comes after Daniel Ricciardo returned a positive test last week, in which he missed the Official Pre-Season Test, he has since returned a negative test and has returned to the paddock today (Thursday).
Speaking prior to his positive test, Vettel had said he hoped this season would see a marked improvement from Aston Martin. “Everything is new in Formula One and I think we’re looking at a very tight battle, and some very close gaps, between all the teams,” he said. “There’s a lot to play for – and that’s F1 at its best.”
Wishing Sebastian a get well soon and hopefully we see him in the car next week!
Daniel Ricciardo has tested negative for Covid-19 and will be returning to Bahrain paddock on Thursday in time for the season opener.
McLaren had a number of drivers on standby if Ricciardo had tested positive, those being Nyck de Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul Di Resta and Alpine reserve, Oscar Piastri.
The Australian tested positive during the Official Pre-Season Test last week, leaving his teammate to conduct the three days of running for the Papaya team. Norris completed 200 laps over the 3 days- having the highest individual tally.
McLaren did however, run into problems with their overheating brakes and will have spent the time between the test and the Grand Prix attempting to fix those problems as they aim to join the frontrunners.
“McLaren F1 Team confirms that after testing positive for Covid-19 last week, Daniel has now returned a number of negative tests and will therefore return to the paddock on Thursday ready to compete in this weekend’s Bahrain GP,” said the team on Wednesday ahead of the Grand Prix. “Daniel has been feeling better each day as he continued to recover while in isolation following local regulations in Bahrain.”
For the first time this year, we get to take a look at the tyre allocation for the weekend ahead, not just for F1 but for Formula 2 and 3.
Pirelli has selected the three hardest compounds in the new 18 inch tyre range: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft). The nomination is one step harder than the selection which was made last year, as the new tyres are completely different in comparison to the old 13 inch tyres.
The choice has been made because of the layout of the track, asphalt characteristics and temperatures. Bahrain remains one of the most abrasive tracks on the calendar thanks to a high percentage of granite within the asphalt, which leads to higher levels of wear and degradation. Even though asphalt abrasion is high, the sand which blows in from the surrounding desert can cause a lot of sliding which automatically affects grip.
The rear tyres work the hardest at Bahrain due to lateral loads. There s a high degree of track evolution over over the weekend, and this year it will be even higher as normal as both Formula 2 and Formula 3 are support races.
The teams had the chance to get familiar with the 2022 18-inch tyre range, having spent a total of six days of testing with all the compounds, although not always in representative conditions. We know from the past that track temperatures can play an important role in Bahrain, affecting tyre degradation, and that’s something we noticed at the recent test as well. During the race temperatures should be milder compared to FP1 and FP3, so the teams will have to focus on their data from FP2 and qualifying. It’s still hard to predict the race strategy as, in the past, Bahrain has been a multi-stop race, but it will be interesting to see if anyone will try something different this year.
Mario Isla, Head of Pirelli Motorsport.
Formula 2
Formula 2 begins its season in Bahrain with the Hard compound and the Soft compound. The hard compound has been revised for this season to offer improved resistance increase the performance gap to the medium with the aim of challenging the drivers and increasing strategy options.
Formula 3
For the first time, Formula 3 will begin in Bahrain with the hard compound as the nominated tyre. Even though the compounds are the same before, the rear tyres have been designed to degrade faster which should shift the balances towards oversteer and make the car more challenging, with the aim of promoting greater driver involvement and showcasing talent.
The Official Pre-Season Test is now complete, ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend. Lets take a look over the past few days and see what we can take away from it all.
Day 1-
Haas made the headlines. The teams freight was delayed arriving into Bahrain, but the mechanics managed to put the car together and send it out for the afternoon session giving Pietro Fittipaldi a chance in the VF22.
Mercedes talked about the most. Coming into pre-season testing after Barcelona there was rumours some teams will change their cars to try new things and see what works, one of them being Mercedes. The Silver Arrow grabbed attention from rival teams after they revealed a no sidepod sidepod making the car slimmer.
Alfa Romeo making up for lost time. Barcelona wasn’t good for the team, not much running making them set of on the back foot but in Bahrain on the first day they turned it round with their lap count surpassing a century.
Ferrari & Alpha Tauri dark horses. Ferrari were very pleased with their running in Barcelona appearing to have stepped up in competitiveness. They ignored the performance aspect of testing on day one and focused on set up.
Where as their Italian rivals was switching focus from aero tests to mechanical runs and testing softer compounds. Pierre Gasly topped the times and clocked up 103 laps.
Day 2-
Ferrari still a threat. The Italian team was quickest in the second day- with both Charles and Carlos pleased with the balance and how the car responds to set up changes.
Trouble at Williams? The team was top five on the mileage charts in Barcelona but it took a dive in Bahrain. Latifi managed 12 laps on the second day where he was forced to stop due to smoke and fire coming from his breaks.
Possible trouble at McLaren too… McLaren stood out in Barcelona after being one of if not the most reliable team but Bahrain brought them brake problems. Norris managed 59 laps on his second day and 49 on the first. To add to this, Ricciardo has been absent on track due to an illness, now covid.
Day 3-
Red Bull on the right path. It is a given that teams keep their cards close to their chest, especially top teams. RB waited until Saturday to show a new sidepod and waiting until the last few hours to show a front wing end plate improvement, but the world champion topped the timesheets. Obviously its only testing so there are plenty of unknowns including the programmes they are running.
Mercedes has issues! Mercedes had a productive day after getting through an intense programme with Hamilton focused on long runs and Russell running low fuel on softer compounds. Reliability has been good for the team throughout pre-season testing, its their performance which is lacking and the porpoising.
Ferrari still talked about. The Italian team look like their in the top two in the pecking order. The last day of testing saw them run through set-up work, qualifying runs and race simulations, the team did not run into any problems.
Alpine getting somewhere? We have all seen that Alpine has had a shocking pre-season, but they had their “best day” on Friday and another on the final day. Alonso focused on high fuel running in the morning before running slightly lighter to get a feel for the car on soft compounds.
My Opinion-
Well, lots have gone on over the past couple of days for testing. It definitely seems that Ferrari and RB are top two. If Mercedes sort out their problems we could possibly seem the a bit higher than third.
The same goes with McLaren once they have sorted out their front axle issue we could see them higher up because they have got the pace as we saw in Barcelona.
I would say the biggest shock for me was Haas, I believe with the pace they’ve shown in testing their somewhere in the midfield! They haven’t really had any reliability issues which is good, its all eyes on how they do next week!
Daniel Ricciardo has tested positive for Covid-19 but is set to be released in time for the opening race in Bahrain next week.
The McLaren driver felt unwell on Wednesday, the day before pre-season testing kicked off at the Bahrain International Circuit. He was due to run all day Thursday but gave his duties to Lando Norris hoping he would feel better today (Friday) so he could run himself.
Again he was not well enough to run today, so Lando tested for the whole day. But the team said he was returning negative covid tests, until tonight when the driver returned a positive PCR test.
The team from Woking say he is continuing to isolate in the accordance with the local regulations as well as adding : “Under these regulations Daniel will be released in time for next weekend’s Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Daniel is already beginning to feel better, and we wish him well for a quick recovery.”
Ricciardo took to social media saying: “Better this week than next… Unfortunate to miss the test, but I’m starting to feel better. I’ll stay isolated and just focus on next weekend. Big thanks to Lando & McLaren for the heavy lifting, I owe you some beers (milk for Lando). Appreciate the well wishes from everyone.”
This means that Norris will be driving all day Saturday for the final test day. Over the past two days he has managed just over 100 laps, struggling with brake issues.
It has been confirmed by Gene Haas, that Pietro Fittipaldi will be testing in Bahrain this week for the American team.
This comes as Nikita Mazepin got axed from his seat on Saturday, as well as the teams sponsor. The decision to cut ties with both came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There are a few options in who could partner up with Mick Schumacher, one including Pietro Fittipaldi the Test and Reserve driver for the team.
According to BBC Sport, there are three drivers on Haas’ shortlist, those being: Pietro Fittipaldi, Oscar Piastri and Jehan Daurvala.
“There was a lot of intense criticism about the Ukraine invasion and it was just getting overwhelming,” team owner Haas told The Associated Press. “We can’t deal with all that, our other sponsors can’t deal with all that. We’re in the process of looking at several candidates, we’ll see who is available and what we have to deal with, but we’ll have somebody by Wednesday. Pietro will definitely be in it, that’s what he’s for, he’s the test driver. I think we’d obviously like to get someone with a bit more actual experience. We just have to see what’s available.”
My Opinion-
Obviously they needed someone in that second seat for testing and quick, that someone is Fittipaldi, so Haas have now got one thing ticked of their list. But I can understand why they are taking their time to decide for the seat for the season.
I’ve seen lots of possibilities over the past few days from Hulkenberg to Giovinazzi to Magnussen as well as the ones already mentioned above. But with Gene Haas saying they would ‘obviously like to get someone with a bit more experience’ it does make me think that having someone with experience is good but would they prefer that over having someone who is new to F1 e.g Piastri.
Formula 2 cars are back on track, as they had their pre-season test in Bahrain before the season starts in two weeks.
Day 1-
AM:
Ayumu Iwasa, lead the field out of the pits but it was Logan Sargaent who emerged in first leading, Marino Sato and Marcus Armstrong. There were three delays during the session as Juri Vips stopped on track twice, with Olli Caldwell also coming to a stop too.
Lawson took control of the session setting a 1:44.522, ahead of Drugovich. Rookie’s Iwasa and Cem Bolukbasi posted the most laps with 26 each.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Liam Lawson
Carlin
1:44.522
22
2
Felipe Drugovich
MP Motorsport
1:44.910
25
3
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
1:45.010
22
4
Jehan Daruvala
PREMA Racing
1:45.103
23
5
Jack Doohan
Virtuosi Racing
1:45.182
21
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
Drugovich returned to the front of the order at the beginning of the afternoon session setting a 1:43.831. After two red flags, one each for Vips and Bolukbasi, Lawson returned to the top.
The timesheet got a reshuffle as PREMA went on a set of fast laps, with Daruvala lapped a 1:42.074, but it was Williams who split the two PREMA’s. Ralph Boschung set the most laps in the afternoon with 38 to his name.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Jehan Daruvala
PREMA Racing
1:42.074
25
2
Calan Williams
Trident
1:42.590
31
3
Dennis Hauger
PREMA Racing
1:42.590
25
4
Liam Lawson
Carlin
1:43.478
31
5
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
1:43.483
31
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 2-
AM:
After Vips had a stop start opening day, he took to track on the second and led a long-run focused morning. He was the only driver to break the 1m 47s barrier ending with a healthy 0.526s over second place.
The order remained consistent throughout the morning with six drivers totting up more than 40 laps each, including Fittipaldi, Williams, Sargeant and Vesi who all made the top 10.
There were 3 red flag during the session Amaury Cordeel came to a stop twice on track, as well as Ayumu Iwasa at turn 2.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Juri Vips
HiTech Grand Prix
1:46.705
23
2
Richard Verschoor
Trident
1:47.231
22
3
Cem Bolukbasi
Charouz Racing System
1:47.688
33
4
Enzo Fittipaldi
Charouz Racing System
1:48.889
41
5
Jake Hughes
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.909
34
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
The afternoon was aimed to lay down some fast times but the session was interrupted early on as Marcus Armstrong clipped the barriers at Turn 8. Once the session resumed, Drugovich posted the fastest time of the day with a 1:42.907.
Carlin’s new line up, took further chunks out of the quickest time as Sargeant put a 1:42.144 on the board. Boschung then replaced them at the top but Lawson didn’t let him stay there long.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Liam Lawson
Carlin
1:41.623
20
2
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing
1:42.096
20
3
Theo Pourchaire
ART Grand Prix
1:42.096
25
4
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
1:42.133
26
5
Jack Doohan
Virtuosi Racing
1:42.144
22
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 3-
AM:
The morning session saw teams performing long runs to get their final preparations before the opening race. Two of the three drivers to post fewer than 30 laps were at the top of the leaderboard, being the MP pair. Theo Pourchaire was the driver who set the most laps, racking up 56 in total.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Felipe Drugovich
MP Motorsport
1:44.911
24
2
Clement Novalak
MP Motorsport
1:45.883
22
3
Juri Vips
HiTech Grand Prix
1:45.978
50
4
Liam Lawson
Carlin
1:46.114
46
5
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
1:46.761
45
Top 5 Morning Session
The afternoon session, was cancelled due to a sandstorm which made the visibility low. But Formula 2 is back in two weeks for the season opener in Bahrain
Formula 3 returned to the Bahrain International Circuit, as a new-look field featuring 15 rookies headed out on track with their first lot of action of the year.
Day 1-
AM:
Roman Stanek topped the timesheets during the opening stages, but his unrepresentative time of 2:13.030 was easily beaten by Reece Ushijima. HiTech Grand Prix’s Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar went 2nd with his teammate in 3rd.
In the final 30 minutes of the session, Arthur Leclerc who was crowned Asian F3, champion during the off-season replaced Ushijima at the top with a 1:48.005. Maloney went second shortly after, while Ushijima managed to hold on to third.
Enzo Trulli brought the session to slight stop as the Carlin driver stopped on track due to an engine issue just minuted before the chequered flag. MP duo Kush Maini and Caio Collet completed the most laps in the morning session, both doing 25 each.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:48.005
10
2
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:48.018
8
3
Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.035
16
4
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.089
12
5
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.128
14
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
Caio Collet, went first and was followed by Ayrton Simmons, but as the laps got more competitive, rookie Gregoire Saucy jumped to the top with a 1:48.045 ahead of Francesco Pizzi and Jak Crawford.
There were only two red flags during the session, the first being caused by Stanek who stopped at Turn 8, and the second by Patrick Pasma, in the final few minutes at Turn 7.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:47.614
23
2
Williams Alatalo
Jenzer Motorsport
1:47.783
24
3
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:47.799
34
4
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:47.854
21
5
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:47.943
29
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 2-
AM:
Martins set the benchmark at 1:47.602 ahead of Edgar in the early stages of a hot morning. The Alpine junior, remained up front for the majority of the session, but his time was eventually beat by Isack Hadjar who went 0.086s.
ART driver Gregoire Saucy, put in the most laps this session, completing 45 runs overall.
Position
Drivers
Teams
Laptime
Laps
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:47.516
30
2
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:47.602
43
3
Jonny Edgar
Trident
1:47.629
30
4
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:47.804
45
5
Juan Manuel Correa
ART Grand Prix
1:47.834
43
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
The afternoon session of Day 2 was a mix of long runs and fast laps as the session began in hot condition but then cooled as the session went on. Francesco Pizzi knocked his teammate of the top spot, but he didn’t remain there for long as Franco Colapinto and Olli Bearman each enjoyed spells in first.
But it was Martins, who took control of the session as he out in a 1:48.250. Edgar was the busiest in the afternoon as he completed 43 laps before a minor collision between Ido Cohen and Correa brought out a red flag.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:48.250
36
2
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.379
34
3
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.490
38
4
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:48.622
37
5
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
1:48.697
34
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 3-
AM:
All cars headed out to an cloudy and humid track, but it was Hadjar who led the field and the mileage. The Red Bull backed driver ended the session with a 0.381s gap to 2nd.
The only red flag of the session came because of Kaylen Frederick stopping at Turn 3.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:47.247
44
2
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:47.628
36
3
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:47.719
36
4
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:47.782
32
5
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
1:47.909
31
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
The grid had to battle a sandstorm as Stanek topped the final session, setting a 1:48.182, in the final hour. But it was Colapinto who set 43 laps the most out of any of the drivers.
There were 3 red flag during the session, with Josep Maria Marti, Laszlo Toth and Saucy all stopping on track for separate reasons.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.182
34
2
Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.798
38
3
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:48.807
28
4
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.975
43
5
Jonny Edgar
Trident
1:49.167
38
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Formula 3 will be back and returning to Bahrain for the opening round of the season from March 18th to 20th.
The Bahrain GP has renewed its contract to stay on the calendar, that being until 2036, following an extension of the contract with the race’s promoter, the Bahrain International Circuit.
The Sakhir based circuit first hosted Formula 1 back in 2004,and has provided some unmissable racing action over the years.
The Bahrain International Circuit will also hold the 2022 Offical Pre-Season Test as well as the opening race of the season on March 18th to 20th.
The promoter, has previously announced sweeping measure to increase the environmental sustainability of the event, with all the energy used by the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix set to come from sustainable sources. Aligning with both the Kingdom of Bahrain and Formula 1’s plan to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Formula 1 CEO and President Stefano Domenicali said: “I am delighted we will be racing at the Bahrain International Circuit until 2036 where more incredible racing and excitement will be on show to thrill our fans. Since 2004 we have had some fantastic races in Sakhir and we cannot wait to be back there for the start of the 2022 championship as we begin a new era for the sport. Bahrain was the first country in the Middle East to welcome Formula 1 and it has a very special place in our sport, and I personally want to thank HRH Prince Salman and his team for their dedication and hard work throughout our partnership and look forward to the many years of racing ahead of us.”
Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of Bahrain International Circuit, said: “After 18 years of F1 racing, we are proud to have played a part in F1’s rich history and we now looking forward to continuing to build on that heritage well into the future. The growth and interest in Motorsport in Bahrain and the Middle East has significant momentum, with a new generation of fans embracing our great sport and we look forward to continuing that progress.”
My Opinion-
Wow 2036! A very long contract but we have good racing in Bahrain so it is justifiable. Also they have the responsibility of holding the official pre-season test as well as first race this year so it makes a lot of sense for them to renew.
Formula One has confirmed the dates for pre-season testing for 2022. The build up for the season has started already with teams announcing the car launches dates for February.
Two sessions of three days each will be taking place ahead of the 23 race F1 campaign to enter a new era.
Barcelona– February 23rd to 25th
The first test of the year is more low-key than the official test. This test in Barcelona allows the team to shake down their all new 2022 cars for the first time.
However, as is traditional with teams pre-testing-type events, the running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya won’t feature live coverage.
It will include content and the best lap times at the end of each day of running.
Bahrain- March 10th to 12th
The Bahrain testing will be the Official Pre-Season Test ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on the weekend of March 18th to 20th.
This testing will be shown live with fan attendance. It will be shown on TV with live timings.
To keep up to date with all the coverage from both tests you can find on F1.com
The dates for testing for both Formula 2 and Formula 3 have been revealed.
Before both of the series gets underway at Sakhir on March 18th to 20th, there is a 3 day pre-season test at the circuit on the 2nd to 4th March, both series will alternate across the 3 days for each session and test. This is the third time F2 has used the country for the first bit of on track action. F3 used the track for pre-season testing back in 2020.
After the season opener, F3 will go to Spain’s Jerez circuit on the 5th to the 6th of April for the second lot of tests, even though this venue is not on the calendar it is said to be used for set-up work and improving tyre management as the layout holds similarities to the Hungaroring.
Formula Two holds its second round in Jeddah in late March before its in-season test the next month at Barcelona on the 12th to 14th of April, where they will be going again for round 4 of the 2022 season.
After F2 have finished their tests, many of the teams will stay put in the paddock as F3 visits Barcelona for their 3rd test from the 15th to 16th. Out of the 11 teams in which take part in F2 and the 10 in F3, Virtuosi Racing and DAMS are the only teams to solely do F2, and Jenzer Motorsport only takes part in F3.
Having just one pre-season test for both Formula Two and Three followed by further in-season tests was something which had been planned for the 2020 season before the coronavirus pandemic took effect and cause further disruption to the schedule.
Jordan's Track Talk 