F1 confirms Barcelona, Bahrain pre-season testing plans

F1 will embark on its new era next month as teams begin to unveil their 2022 cars.

For this season, the budget gap has been made even stricter while the technical regulations have been carefully designed to allow for better, more competitive racing.

Aston Martin is the first team to launch its new challenger on February 10, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all following suit in the following eight days.

F1 teams will take to the track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya which hosts the Spanish Grand Prix on February 23-25.

It has been confirmed that there will be no live coverage or live timing of the Barcelona test.

Interestingly, the Barcelona test has been labelled 'pre-season session' and the Bahrain test has been dubbed 'official pre-season test'.

The Bahrain International Circuit will host the second three-day test on March 10-12 ahead of the season-opener.

Fans will be allowed to attend Bahrain and there will also be live coverage on TV.