Bahrain has once again been chosen to host Formula 1‘s pre-season testing in 2025, despite the circuit’s annual round not holding the season-opening race next term.
The Bahrain International Circuit has been used as the venue to complete pre-season running since 2021 and has had that standalone honour in the last two seasons.
The sport’s desire to reduce costs where possible has seen pre-season action stripped to include one test spread across three days over the previous two campaigns.
That will continue in 2025 – the last campaign under the current technical regulations – as the teams and drivers will take to the Bahrain track between 26-28 February
This will go ahead despite Bahrain not holding the curtain-raiser to the new season as it has relinquished that spot to ensure the event avoids the clash with Ramadan.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has also been moved to April, with the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and Bahrain completing a triple header alongside with Japan.
Instead, Australia will revert to being the season-opening race – as it was before the pandemic resulted in the 2020 and 2021 events being cancelled – on March 14-16.
However, in compliance with F1’s goal to become a more sustainable sport with its Net Zero 2030 initiative, a “significant percentage” of freight will remain in Bahrain.
