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From Pirelli press release

The second four-day official test of the year takes place in Bahrain from Wednesday to Saturday this week: the same venue that will host the third and final pre-season test later this month.

The warm ambient conditions of around 20 degrees centigrade or higher are set to provide a marked contrast to the first test of the year in Jerez, which featured low temperatures and rain.

All the teams are expected to be present at the Bahrain test, as they continue to optimise the interaction between their radical new cars - with 1.6-litre turbo hybrid engines and advanced energy recuperation systems - and the latest generation of Pirelli tires, which feature new compounds and constructions this year.

The track contains a wide variety of speeds and corners with high longitudinal demands that address most aspects of a tire's behaviour, making it an ideal test venue.

Testing Facts:

-- Teams are allowed an overall maximum total of 135 sets of tires for testing this year, including the in-season tests. The maximum total for the three pre-season tests is 85 sets of tires: 25 sets for Jerez and 30 each for the two Bahrain tests.

-- The teams will be able to test three slick compounds in Bahrain: hard, medium and soft. On top of this, they will also be able to test the ‘winter' hard compound, which Pirelli has created to ensure a rapid warm-up even at low temperatures. The teams have asked to try this tire, designed for Jerez, in Bahrain as well in order to assess how it performs in higher ambient temperatures. The ‘winter” version is recognisable by the fact that it has no markings, whereas the ‘standard' 2014 hard compound carries orange markings.

-- Pirelli is also bringing an extra set of medium tires per team to Bahrain, with 2014 construction and compound. However, these are actually considered to be ‘prototypes' as their purpose is to test tyre behaviour without warming blankets, which will be banned from 2015 onwards.

-- Of the 30 sets at each team's disposal, 22 sets of the four slick tires (hard, ‘winter' hard, medium, and soft) are selected by Pirelli in accordance with the teams. The remaining eight sets are chosen by the teams in advance, to suit their individual run plans.

Photo: WRi2

Driving duties for the first Bahrain winter test*

Red Bull
Wednesday: Sebastian Vettel
Thursday: Sebastian Vettel
Friday: Daniel Ricciardo
Saturday: Daniel Ricciardo

Mercedes
Wednesday: Lewis Hamilton
Thursday: Nico Rosberg
Friday: Lewis Hamilton
Saturday: Nico Rosberg

Ferrari
Wednesday: Fernando Alonso
Thursday: Fernando Alonso
Friday: Kimi Raikkonen
Saturday: Kimi Raikkonen

Lotus
Wednesday: Romain Grosjean
Thursday: Romain Grosjean
Friday: Pastor Maldonado
Saturday: Pastor Maldonado

McLaren
Wednesday: Kevin Magnussen
Thursday: Kevin Magnussen
Friday: Jenson Button
Saturday: Jenson Button

Sahara Force India
Wednesday: Nico Hülkenberg
Thursday: Nico Hülkenberg
Friday: Sergio Pérez
Saturday: Sergio Pérez

Toro Rosso
Wednesday: Daniil Kvyat
Thursday: Daniil Kvyat
Friday: Jean-Eric Vergne
Saturday: Jean-Eric Vergne

Marussia
Wednesday: Jules Bianchi
Thursday: Max Chilton
Friday: Max Chilton
Saturday: Jules Bianchi

Caterham
Wednesday: Robin Frijns
Thursday: Kamui Kobayashi
Friday: Marcus Ericsson
Saturday: Kamui Kobayashi

Sauber
To be announced

Williams
To be announced

*Unofficial