The 2023 Formula 1 season is upon us, with the Bahrain Grand Prix opening the new campaign this weekend.
After the three days of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, teams have remained in the Gulf country to prepare for the new year.
Max Verstappen enters the championship having won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.
Red Bull displayed strong form throughout pre-season running and appear to be favourites once more to take glory this year.
Ferrari won last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix through Charles Leclerc, while Red Bull suffered a disastrous start to the season as Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez retired late-on in the race.
On-track running this weekend will span three days, starting with the first two practice sessions on Friday, before a final practice outing and qualifying takes place on Saturday.
The main event, when the first points of the year will be up for grabs, will commence on Sunday.
Below, see the sessions and their start times.
| Session | Date | Time (Local) | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP1 | Friday, March 3 | 14:30 – 15:30 | 11:30 – 12:30 | 06:30 – 07:30 |
| FP2 | Friday, March 3 | 18:00 – 19:00 | 15:00 – 16:00 | 10:00 – 11:00 |
| FP3 | Saturday, March 4 | 14:30 – 15:30 | 11:30 – 12:30 | 06:30 – 07:30 |
| Qualifying | Saturday, March 4 | 18:00 – 19:00 | 15:00 – 16:00 | 10:00 – 11:00 |
| Bahrain Grand Prix | Sunday, March 5 | 18:00 | 15:00 | 10:00 |
Driver and team line-up
| Team | Engine | Car | Nationality | Drivers | Driver No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Red Bull | Red Bull | RB19 |   | Max Verstappen Sergio Perez | 1 11 |
 | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF23 |   | Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz | 16 55 |
 | Mercedes | Mercedes | W14 |  | Lewis Hamilton George Russell | 44 63 |
 | Alpine | Renault | A523 | | Esteban Ocon Pierre Gasly | 31 10 |
| McLaren | Mercedes | MCL60 |  | Lando Norris Oscar Piastri | 4 81 |
| Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | C43 |   | Valtteri Bottas Guanyu Zhou | 77 24 |
| Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR23 |  | Fernando Alonso Lance Stroll | 14 18 |
 | Haas | Ferrari | Haas VF-23 |  | Kevin Magnussen Nico Hulkenberg | 20 27 |
| AlphaTauri | Red Bull | AT04 |  | Yuki Tsunoda Nyck de Vries | 22 21 |
| Williams | Mercedes | FW45 |  | Alex Albon Logan Sargeant | 23 2 |
How to watch the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Coverage of all the action in the UK and Ireland will be shown live, with free-to-air highlights available later in the day.
Watch Live: Sky Sports F1 will broadcast every session live, as well as build-up and post-session shows to qualifying and the race.
Highlights: Channel 4 will provide highlight shows of the qualifying and race sessions, a number of hours after the live event has ended on Sky Sports.
Live Stream: Sky Sports subscribers will be able to catch all of the action through the Sky Go app, which requires an internet connection to access. Alternatively, they can access through NOW TV.
TV broadcast start times
Sky Sports F1
Friday: FP1 – 11:00 | FP2 – 14:45
Saturday: FP3 – 11:15 | Qualifying – 14:10
Sunday: Bahrain Grand Prix – 13:30
Channel 4
Saturday: Qualifying – 19:30
Sunday: Bahrain Grand Prix – 21:00
How to stream pre-season testing
F1TV, the sport’s own streaming service, will broadcast testing in territories where the service is available.
The list of countries in which F1 TV Pro is available can be found here.
