Esteban Ocon was the fastest from Patricio O’Ward in the post-season Abu Dhabi F1 Test, with Frederik Vesti rounding the Top 3.
The post-season Abu Dhabi F1 Test saw Alpine’s Ocon end up on top with a 1m24.393s lap as he led McLaren’s O’Ward (1m24.662s) and Mercedes’ Vesti (1m24.679s), where the latter two ran as Young Drivers in the test session and the former being the regular.
The regular list of F1 drivers were undertaking Pirelli tyre test where the Italian manufacturer ran the 2024 compounds which is same as the 2023 tyres after they elected not to change the compounds they tested in USA and Mexico.
The start of testing was delayed due to medical helicopter arriving late and soon it was stopped due to water leak under the W hotel. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, meanwhile, was fourth where the Top 4 completed more than 100 laps all day, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fifth from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard ran in the afternoon taking over from teammate Lance Stroll, who did half a day in the morning hours. Alpine’s Jack Doohan was sixth from Haas’ Robert Shwartzman with Williams’ Logan Sargant ninth and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding the Top 10.
The Monegasque took over in the afternoon session after Sainz ran in the morning hours. Alfa Romeo’s Theo Pourchaire was 11th but completed 96 laps despite mechanical issues in the morning hours, with Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich in 12th.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was 13th from Red Bull’s Jake Dennis, with the other AlphaTauri of Ayumu Iwasa in 15th. The Japanese racer’s first run in F1 ended early due to a problem where he caused the day’s third red flag, with Haas’ Oliver Bearman slotting in 16th.
Williams’ Zak O’Sullivan was 17th from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi in 19th, Mercedes’ George Russell 20th. The Brit’s session ended early after an incident where a part failed and was not repairable in time. He caused the day’s second red flag.
He only managed 58 laps in all whereas Vesti did 106 in all. Stroll, meanwhile, was 21st from Williams’ Franco Colapinto for his first-ever F1 run where he shared the car with O’Sullivan who ran in the morning hours.
The 23 runners were rounded out by AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo – who ran in the morning hours after which Tsunoda took over – Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Gyanyu and Williams’ Alexander Albon.
