22/02/2023
NEWS STORY
Mercedes has finally confirmed its schedule for the pre-season test in Bahrain.
With just three days of running, and the opening race just a week away, track time will be crucial, and at least there is no fear of the Weather Gods causing problems, unless they opt to make things interesting by blowing some sand on to the track.
With 25.5 hours of running spread over the three days, the various test and reserve drivers will be restricted to simulator work, though at Aston Martin Felipe Drugovich will be in action as he stands in for the injured Lance Stroll.
As it stands, the youngster is only scheduled to drive on Thursday morning, with the Silverstone-based outfit yet to confirm its plans for the remaining two days.
Aston Martin aside, all the teams have now confirmed their schedules for the entire test, bar Ferrari, which has only given details on Thursday's programme, while late on Wednesday afternoon Mercedes announced its schedule.
Testing runs from 10:00 - 14:15 (07:00 - 11:15 GMT) each morning and 15:15 - 19:30 (12:15 - 16:30 GMT) in the afternoon.
| Team | Thu 23 | Fri 24 | Sat 25 |
| Red Bull | Verstappen | Verstappen/Perez | Perez |
| Ferrari | Sainz/Leclerc | TBC | TBC |
| Mercedes | Russell/Hamilton | Hamilton/Russell | Russell/Hamilton |
| Alpine | Gasly/Ocon | Ocon/Gasly | Gasly/Ocon |
| McLaren | Piastri/Norris | Norris/Piastri | Piastri/Norris |
| Alfa Romeo | Zhou/Bottas | Zhou | Bottas |
| Aston Martin | Drugovich/Alonso | TBC | TBC |
| Haas | Hulkenberg/Magnussen | Magnussen/Hukenberg | Hulkenberg/Magnussen |
| AlphaTauri | Tsunoda/De Vries | Tsunoda/De Vries | De Vries/Tsunoda |
| Williams | Albon/Sargeant | Sargeant | Albon |