The dates and locations for the two official pre-season testing sessions ahead of the 2022 Formula One championship had been confirmed a few months ago, but the details of the runs in Barcelona and Bahrain were not completely finalised.
On Wednesday, however, Formula 1 announced that its deal with Circuit de Catalunya and Bahrain International Circuit had been agreed, as it provided further details regarding the plans for the two three-days tests.
As anticipated, the first testing session takes place between 23 and 25 February, while the event in Bahrain will run from March 10-12, just one week ahead of the first race of the 2022 season, scheduled in Bahrain on March 18.
Despite the fact that fans and media are anxious to see the new cars on track in Barcelona, Formula 1 decided to approach this event like nothing more than a shakedown run – which usually take place as private events.
In press release about the upcoming testing sessions, the official website of Formula 1 explained: “The first outing is a lower key, pre-testing track session at Barcelona on February 23-25, allowing the teams to shake down their all-new-for-’22 cars for the first time in the same place. However, as is traditional with teams’ pre-testing-type events, the running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya won’t feature live, race-style coverage or live timing, but will include content and best lap times at the end of each day.”
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While fans will not be allowed to attend from the stands, media and broadcasters will be in attendance at the event to provide news and updates, and teams will be able to post their own content on social media.
At the end of each day, Formula 1 will also distribute their own official content and updates of the on-track action.
This decision will of course disappoint fans who would have liked to be able to attend the event, but it is understood that the call was made after prompting for teams to change pre-season running for 2022.
With the regulations having whittled down preparations to just a single official test from 2021, a push was made to expand running for 2022 because of the change of rules. That move has been accommodated by adding the private test in Barcelona, which Formula 1 and teams want to treat as nothing more than a shakedown for them to better understand the new car. Formula 1 wants to approach the second test in Bahrain as the official pre-season event – so it will feature the more regular live timing and television coverage, and will be open to fans.
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