A one-dimensional multistream formalism is extended for the study of temperature anisotropy driven Weibel-type instabilities in collisionless and relativistic plasma. The formulation is based on a Hamiltonian reduction technique using the invariance of generalized canonical momentum in transverse direction. The Vlasov-Maxwell model is expressed in terms of an ensemble of one-dimensional Vlasov-type equations, coupled together with the Maxwell equations in a self-consistent way. Although the model is fundamentally nonlinear, this first of three companion papers focuses on the linear aspect. Dispersion relations of the Weibel instability are derived in the linear regime for different kinds of polarization of the electromagnetic potential vector. The model allows new unexpected insights on the instability: enhanced growth rates for the Weibel instability are predicted when a dissymmetric distribution is considered in p(perpendicular to). In the case of a circular polarization, a simplification of the linear analysis can be obtained by the introduction of the ``multiring'' approach allowing to extend the analytical model of Yoon and Davidson [Phys. Rev. A 35, 2718 (1987)]. Applications of this model are left to the other two papers of the series where specific problems are addressed pertaining to the nonlinear and relativistic dynamics of magnetically trapped particles met in the saturation regime of the Weibel instability.