After the shakedown in Barcelona and the first test week in Bahrain, the teams still have three test days left before the season gets underway in Melbourne. Where the first laps in Spain were run behind closed doors, the media were able to cover the running in Sakhir extensively. Yet TV broadcasts remained limited to the final hours of the day. That changes this week, and fans can follow all the action from Bahrain live.
On Wednesday 18 February a new three-day test begins in Bahrain. The sessions run daily from 07:00 to 16:00 UTC. During the first test week, the footage Formula 1 broadcast was confined to the final hour of the day. On Viaplay, the Dutch rights-holder, live coverage also only started around 15:00 UTC. Formula 1 — given the new regulations — did not show its hand yet, possibly out of fear of teething troubles with the new cars.
This week that’s changing and all morning and afternoon sessions will be shown in full. You can tune in each day via both Viaplay and F1 TV. It’s the last chance for Max Verstappen and company to log meaningful laps with the new F1 machinery before the whole circus heads to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the new season.
