F1 2023: Pre-Season Testing Time and what to expect

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The 2023 F1 season is scheduled to begin on March 5 at the Bahrain International Circuit – pre-season time and what to expect?

We are just days away from the start of the new Formula One season and the teams are gearing up for the pre-season testing scheduled to take place later this week. The pre-season testing sessions will take place over three days in Sakhir – 23, 24, 25 February. The testing will start at 12:30 IST on all three days and continue till 22:00 IST.

The pre-season run will provide a golden opportunity for the drivers’ and the teams to try out the new cars. Meanwhile, fans will be excited to watch their heroes in action before the lights officially go out on March 5. The sessions are designed to allow teams to eradicate major issues before the season begins, crucially providing the chance to make sure that the cars are reliable when pushed to the limit and averting the possibility of a series of mechanical failures and retirements in the opening race.

How are the teams shaping up going into the pre-season testing?

The new season of Formula One is just a few weeks away and teams have finalised their new cars and drivers’ lineup for 2023. The 2023 F1 grid will see a number of new faces while we will certainly miss four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who decided to retire at the end of the 2022 season. The new season will officially begin on March 5 at the Bahrain International Circuit but there will be a lot of things to look forward to during the pre-Season run.

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Credits: F1 Twitter

There will be three debutants in the F1 grid this season – Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Logan Sargeant (Williams). We will also see the full-time return of Nico Hulkenberg for the first time since 2019, who has replaced Mick Schumacher at Haas. Meanwhile, Aston Martin has roped in two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso to fill the spot vacated by the retiring Sebastian Vettel. McLaren has brought in Oscar Piastri after Alonso’s departure from the team. Yuki Tsunoda has moved on to Alpha Tauri while Alpine have signed Esteban Ocon to partner Gasly in the Japanese driver’s place. Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo are unfortunately missing out and won’t be a full-time part of the F1 grid this season.

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