What to expect from 2021 F1 winter testing

Formula 1 pre-season testing is almost here and it will provide a short and sharp blast of action in Bahrain as preparation for the 2021 season. From closely-guarded car parts to new faces, names and looks, all will be revealed over three days. Here’s what to watch out for.

Alex Kalinauckas Mar 10, 2021, 10:09 AM

Upd: Mar 10, 2021, 2:29 PM

Nearly 14 weeks after Formula 1 departed, the championship is returning to Bahrain this week.

The action-packed 2020 Sahkir Grand Prix will be followed by the track’s first F1 testing running in seven years, with this week’s three-day event returning to the traditional layout that will be used for the 2021 season-opening Bahrain GP (March 28).

The effect of F1’s coronavirus cost-saving measure has been seen throughout this year’s launch season, with the car designs largely carried over. At teams where no livery change has been made, the resemblances are particularly striking. This approach also meant a reduction in testing overall, with this week’s event the only chance the teams have to fully trial their 2021 challengers ahead of the first race.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.