A big week of F1 car launches begins with Aston Martin who are launching their new AMR24 on Monday.
The big movers of last winter, Aston Martin will be hoping to deliver another significant jump in performance with their latest challenger, which is the first to be built at their state-of-the-art Silverstone factory which opened last summer.
Although they could not absolutely sustain the Red Bull-challenging form that saw them score six podiums in last season’s opening eight races, fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship was still a two-place improvement on each of the previous two campaigns.
With billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll having made clear his determination to take the team to the top of the sport, Aston Martin have used the tagline of ‘hyper focus’ on social media in the build-up to their launch and go in to 2024 chasing a first race win since rebranding under the name of the iconic British manufacturer three years ago.
Fernando Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 world champion, and Lance Stroll continue in an unchanged driver line-up.
When is F1 pre-season testing?
Pre-season testing takes place from Wednesday February 21 to Friday February 23 at the Bahrain International Circuit with just three days for the teams to get prepared for the new season.
When is the first F1 race?
Just one week later, the opening race of the 2024 season will begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29 to March 2.
Due to the Muslim holy period of Ramadan, the Bahrain and, seven days later, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will be held on a Saturday.
This means practice one and two will take place on Thursdays, with final practice and qualifying on Fridays.
Watch pre-season testing from Bahrain live on Sky Sports F1 from February 21-23 and every round of the new season, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29-March 2. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership