The 2025 Formula 1 season will open with the traditional three days of testing. In recent years the venue for pre-season testing has been the Sakhir circuit, a choice made since the Bahrain Grand Prix became the opening round of the world championship.
Next season, however, there will be the new Melbourne, which will return to host the first Grand Prix of the year on March 16th. The FIA, together with Liberty Media and the representatives of the teams, had to discuss where to hold the three days of testing, given the impossibility of reconciling the location of the tests with that of the first race.
The pit straight in Barcelona
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Initially, the Catalunya circuit seemed to be the preferred venue for most of the teams, then (surprisingly) it returned to being the Sakhir track, chosen with a (not absolute) majority by the teams.
The three days of testing were scheduled from February 26th to 28th, a tight date given that the traditional Ramadan will begin on the evening of the last day of February. On the same date (Friday) there will also be the first stage of the WEC world championship in Losail, Qatar.
The choice to hold the tests in Sakhir will involve a greater logistical and financial effort, but the teams have taken two aspects into account: the mild climate which eliminates the possibility of having to abandon the tests for reasons related to the weather, as well as the lower possibility of damage linked to runway exits.
Furthermore, the solidity of the projects, which should not introduce major technical innovations, reduces the possibility of requesting extra parts at the team headquarters, one of the logistical advantages that the choice of Barcelona entails.
One aspect, that of proximity to the headquarters, has already been kept in mind in view of the 2026 tests, when the single-seater-power unit combinations will be totally new. The teams already seem to agree on the need to schedule two test sessions, the first of three days in Barcelona and a subsequent one in Bahrain.
There are also those who consider the number of test days too small considering the extent of the innovations that we will see on the track in two seasons, but in this case there is still a lot of time available before a final decision.
#Test #days #Bahrain #debut #Melbourne
