Williams’ George Russell kept Mercedes on top on the final day of Pirelli F1 tyre test in Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina circuit which also marks the end running in 2019.
After Valtteri Bottas on Day 1, it was Russell to keep Mercedes on top on Day 2 to end the Pirelli F1 tyre test for 2020 at Yas Marina with a 1m37.204s lap. The British racer ran the most number of laps as the team racked up mileage towards the new season.
He had Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m37.401s) behind with the Monegasque causing the test’s only red flag across the two days of running after going off at Turn 12-13 late in the day. He did miss some running towards the end as Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was third.
The Canadian set a 1m37.999s to finish ahead of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly (1m38.166s) and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m38.729s). He had a run-in with the Spaniard in the pitlane earlier in the day though but there was no damage whatsoever.
Esteban Ocon (1m38.950s), meanwhile, continued his learning days with Renault to be sixth with over 100 laps under his belt after lack of it on Tuesday due to seat issues. Red Bull’s Alexander Albon (1m39.181s) was seventh but stopped on track to end his run.
The Thai racer also continued his syncing with senior Red Bull team away from a race weekend as late improvement put Haas’ test driver Pietro Fittipaldi in eighth as Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m39.811s) was pushed to ninth.
Behind him in 10th was Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m40.188s), who had his first run as an official F1 racer. The Canadian took over the Williams from Roy Nissany (1m43.892s), who drove it in the morning hours to be 11th.
Despite running only in the afternoon, Latifi also crossed the 100 laps mark like everyone with only Nissany undertaking 38. The question mark on the tyres still remains as none of the drivers, who spoke to the media, felt good with the new spec.
#F1testing NEWS fresh off the circuit! @ymcofficial#F1 pic.twitter.com/2NsL2sJqss
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) December 4, 2019
Here’s how Day 1 of the F1 Abu Dhabi Test went