Barcelona and Bahrain host the F1 2022 tests.
The Formula 1 pre-season is one of the key moments of each year, in which the teams unveil their new cars and take them to the track for the first time, with the aim of testing and developing them on the different days to get them ready for the season.
The premiere of the new 2022 F1 cars on the track took place on February 23 in our country, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló, Barcelona), where the first three training days were held. During those days, the teams verified that their single-seaters had been born well and began to evolve them.
After those days, the teams have had several days to analyze the data and now they are packing their bags again to head to Bahrain, which will host the second week of testing between March 10 and 12, and the start of the season one week later.
Where and when are the F1 2022 tests
Test F1 Barcelona (23-25 February 2022)
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a classic of the Formula 1 pre-season. For many years, the Catalan track has witnessed the debut of cars before the start of the course, and has seen how debutant drivers or those who have changed team debuted with their new cars.
These tests (called pre-test or shakedown) were behind closed doors, without an audience and without live times or television production. The reason was economic, to leave all the prominence of the preseason to Bahrain, which hosts the second week of tests.
In Barcelona we saw how Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz made their debut at the wheel of their respective Alpine A522 and Ferrari F1-75, single-seaters with which this year ambitious goals are set… although it is still difficult to assess their performance, since no team knows really where is he still.
Results: The 10 best times of the Barcelona tests
| Position | Pilot | Equipment | Time | Tire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:19,138 | C5 |
| 2nd | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19,233 | C5 |
| 3rd | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:19,556 | C4 |
| 4th | lando norris | McLaren | 1:19,568 | C4 |
| 5th | charles leclerc | ferrari | 1:19,689 | C3 |
| 6th | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:19,756 | C3 |
| 7th | Sebastian Vettel | ferrari | 1:19,824 | C5 |
| 8th | Pierre Gasley | Alpha Taurus | 1:19,918 | C4 |
| 9th | Carlos Sainz | ferrari | 1:20,072 | C3 |
| 10th | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:20,288 | C4 |
| … 13th | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:22,242 | C3 |
Test F1 Bahrain: From 10 to 12 March 2022
The second week of training will allow the teams to put into practice what they have learned in the first days of testing in Barcelona. In this test session, just a few days before the start of the 2022 season, fans will be allowed access to the stands and there will also be live television production, as well as lap times.
The teams will have to use the data collected here to start the season just a few days later, on the weekend of 18-20, when the F1 Bahrain GP 2022 will be held there and thus kick off the most anticipated championship in the world. recent times.
How to watch the F1 tests?
The Bahrain tests, unlike those in Barcelona, will be televised through DAZN, the owner of the F1 rights in our country. Between March 10 and 12, the streaming sports platform will carry out a special coverage of these training sessions, crucial after the change in regulations for this year.
The test schedule for each day will be from 08:00 in the morning until 17:00 in the afternoon, with an hour of rest between 12:00 and 13:00. Every F1 test day in Bahrain, DAZN will connect at 07:45 in the morning to broadcast what happens during the day, stopping to rest at 12:15; then, at 1:00 p.m., the broadcast will resume until the checkered flag waves at 5:20 p.m.
Later, at 9:00 p.m., a summary will be broadcast with the best images of the day and the best times of the day.
Just one week later, on the weekend of March 18-20, the season will start at this same circuit, Bahrain, so the tests will be key to collecting data for the rest of the year and, of course, to fight for the victory in the first round of the season.
