Formula 1 2025 is officially starting today with the first day in the pre-season testing, two weeks before the first Grand Prix takes place in Australia. In two four hour sessions, in the morning and in the afternoon, all ten teams and twenty drivers will take the wheels of the recently unveiled cars, getting accustomed to the new machines (and, in many cases, brand new teams, as there are a lot of line-up changes this year, with only Aston Martin and McLaren unchanged from 2024).
In fact, Lewis Hamilton was one of the first drivers test this morning, giving fans the first real look of the seven-time champion as a Ferrari driver.
This is a very important part of the season, as drivers have to get to the tyres, working different set-ups for different conditions, complete high and low fuel runs, the higher and lower grips... As Formula 1 explains, the rules and regulations have only been tweaked for the new season, so three days of testing are deemed enough. 2026 season will bring larger changes to the cars, and as such they will allow six days of pre-season testing.
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How to watch Formula 1 test live
Today is the first out of three days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, in Manama and it will be televised in most channels that usually play Formula 1 (Sky in the UK, Italy, Germany or the Netherlands, Canal+ in France, DAZN in Spain).
Pre-season test takes place between Wednesday February 26 and Friday, Feb 28. The morning session start at 8:00 AM CET (7:00 AM GMT) and lasts until 12:00 AM CET (11:00 AM GMT, UK time). Afternoon session also last four fours, from 13 CET (12 GMT) to 17 CET (16 GMT).