Taking over from Barcelona, Bahrain has become F1’s go-to spot for winter testing thanks to its more benign, reliable weather and its central location in the Middle East, with cars then shipped off to the opening round of the season. In previous years teams would just stay in Bahrain for the season opener the following week, but due to the Ramadan the 2025 calendar has a rejigged opening leg of the season, with Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix now raising the curtains on 16 March.
This week all 10 teams receive three days at the Bahrain International Circuit – from Wednesday to Friday- to dial in their new equipment and iron out any kinks, running one car per test day. That means drivers are set to run just one day and a half each, with track time especially scarce for 2025’s huge rookie class.
On Wednesday morning, defending world champion Max Verstappen will be among the first drivers to kick off the 2025 season in his new Red Bull RB21 alongside rookies Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Jack Doohan (Alpine) and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
Other teams are yet to unveil their testing schedule, with more names added to the below table as soon as they are available.
Every day the morning session runs from 07:00 until 11:00 GMT. Following a one-hour lunch break the action continues for another four hours from 12:00 until 16:00 GMT.
Line-up 2025 F1 Bahrain test
| Team | Wednesday 26 February | Thursday 27 February | Friday 28 February |
| McLaren | |||
| Ferrari | |||
| Red Bull Racing |  Max Verstappen (AM) Liam Lawson (PM) |
Max Verstappen |
Liam Lawson |
| Mercedes |
|
|
|
| Aston Martin | |||
| Alpine |
|
|
|
| Haas |  Oliver Bearman (AM) Esteban Ocon (PM) |
Esteban Ocon (AM) Oliver Bearman (PM) |
Oliver Bearman (AM) Esteban Ocon (PM) |
| Racing Bulls | |||
| Williams |
|
 Carlos Sainz |
 Alex Albon |
| Sauber |
Kimi Antonelli (AM)
George Russell (PM)
Jack Doohan (AM)
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