Formula 2: Winter testing starts in Bahrain

Today the official Formula 2 winter tests start in Bahrain, where teams and drivers from the youth series will be working with 2024 cars for the first time. The tests will last three days, all 22 drivers will take part and the first stage of the season will take place at the Sakhir circuit from February 29 to March 2.

The first three-hour session starts Sunday evening at 5:00 PM local time. On Monday and Tuesday there are two sessions during the day: the first starts at 11.45 am and lasts until 2.15 pm; then track work continues after a break at 5.15pm and lasts a further two hours.

Pirelli tire manufacturers provided the teams with two tire compounds: five sets of hard and three sets of soft.

Twelve of the drivers for the new season already have experience in Formula 2, but the youth championship has been supplemented with ten newcomers. The favorites include Victor Martin, a French driver from the French ART team, but now he has a new partner, last year’s Formula 3 vice-champion Zach O’Sullivan, a student of the Williams Racing Academy.

But it is likely that the Prema team, driven by Oliver Berman and debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the current European Formula Regional champion, will attract even more attention.

The 17-year-old Italian is considered one of the most talented representatives of his generation and he moved to Formula 2, bypassing the F3 podium. Moreover, since he has been part of Mercedes’ youth program, there has been talk that, if a successful set of circumstances occurs, he could switch to the Formula 1 team as early as 2025. However, Antonelli must first prove himself in F2.

Also worth mentioning is Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, last year’s Formula 3 champion, who has already been accepted into the McLaren youth program.

The new generation of Formula 2 cars run on petrol, which consists of 55% biofuel, produced by the Saudi company Aramco, the official partner of Formula 2.