The 2022 Formula 1 season is drawing ever nearer with testing dates now confirmed for February and March ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20th.

The sport is entering an exciting new era for 2022, a year later than originally planned thanks to the pandemic.

Sweeping technical changes are being introduced with all new aerodynamic packages set to be brought in and the cars, therefore, are going to look drastically different to their recent predeccessors.

Why is F1 bringing in new rules?

The aim of the new regulations is to generate closer, more unpredictable racing up and down the field and the hope has to be that some new faces and teams are up near the front after Mercedes dominance for many of the last few years.

Indeed, Red Bull showed how exciting the sport can be when another team is regularly competing for victory in 2021 and each one of the 10 outfits will be thinking that 2022 presents a chance for them to storm up the grid.

In the past, we've seen the likes of Brawn GP emerge and storm to the championship by getting the interpretation of new regulations right better than anyone else, and there could be a chance of that happening again this coming campaign.

When and where are the F1 test dates and can I watch them?

That said, testing is going to be vitally important, and here are the all important dates:

The Barcelona test has been a staple on the calendar for many years but will not be broadcast on TV, with the teams' running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya not featuring live, race-style coverage or live timing.

The Bahrain test, meanwhile, is being described as the 'official' pre-season test, with it taking place just a week before the season itself starts at the same circuit the following weekend.

Unlike Barcelona, this test will be open to fans and there will be TV coverage across the entirety of the event, giving everyone a first real taste of what these new cars are going to look like attacking tracks at speed.

Before all of that, the teams will launch their challengers for 2022 in February, with teams beginning to reveal their dates to unveil their new cars. You can catch up with all of that here.

You can keep up with all the latest Formula 1 news right here at Give Me Sport.