F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Date, UK start time, live stream, TV channel, practice, qualifying for 2023 season opening race
THE 2023 Formula One season gets underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend – with Max Verstappen aiming to become a three-time world champion.
Red Bull dominated the 2022 season as they won 17 of 22 races with Verstappen taking a whopping 15 victories and team mate Sergio Perez two.
The pressure will be on new Ferrari team principle Fred Vasseur to deliver a title winning car as The Scuderia look for their first drivers title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
The 2022 car was fast but unreliable with Charles Leclerc taking 3 victories whilst Carlos Sainz took his maiden F1 win at Silverstone.
Mercedes had a difficult 2022 season with the Brackley outfit only registering a solitary victory courtesy of George Russell at Interlagos.
Lewis Hamilton failed to win a race for the first time in his Formula One career in 2022 and will be desperate to get back on the top step of the podium in 2023.
Elsewhere on the grid Fernando Alonso replaced the retiring Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, Nico Hulkenburg returned to the sport with Haas, Pierre Gasly joined Alpine, Nyck de Vries joined Alpha Tauri, Oscar Piastri replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Mclaren and Logan Sargeant joined Williams.
When is the Bahrain Grand Prix?
- The Bahrain Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, March 5.
- Practice gets going from 11.30am on Friday, March 3.
- Qualifying is on from 3pm on March 4.
- The race will begin at 3pm UK time.
What channel is it and can it be live streamed?
- The Bahrain Grand Prix will be live on Sky Sports F1 with highlights on Channel 4.
- You can live stream the race on the Sky Go app which you can download on your tablet or mobile device.
What happened at practice?
Fernando Alonso set the pace is practice as the F1 season kicked off in Bahrain.
The Aston Martin driver, 41, was 0.169 seconds quicker than world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
What are the teams and drivers?
- Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
- Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
- Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
- Alpine: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly
- Mclaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
- Alpha Tauri: Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries
- Alfa Romeo: Valterri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou
- Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
- Haas: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg
- Williams: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant