The Ferraris dominated the scene in the Formula 1 test day which took place today in Abu Dhabi, at the end of the 2022 season. The Ferrari even scored a hat-trick at the end of the nine hours that the teams had available to work with a car with young drivers and a second one to help Pirelli develop the 2023 tyres.
The fastest in the morning was Charles Leclerc, who completed 56 laps at the wheel of his F1-75 with a best of 1’25″383. In the afternoon, however, the Monegasque handed over the wheel to his teammate Carlos Sainz and the Spanish he improved his performance by 138 thousandths, going down to 1’25″245.
Completing the perfect day was Robert Shwartzman, the young man brought to the track by the Cavallino, who clocked a 1’25″400 right in the final minutes, just 17 thousandths off Leclerc’s time, which allowed him to return to occupy a third position which he had lost in the central phase of the afternoon.
Pierre Gasly’s debut at the wheel of the Alpine is apparently very good. The Frenchman put in a lot of work, putting together 130 laps and just in the final minutes he clocked his 1’25″689, a performance that made him the fastest among the riders who today went to wear the colors of a different team from the one with which they ended the 2022 season. The day of the youngster of the Enstone team, the son of art Jack Doohan, was also positive, 11th in 1’26″297 and with 111 passes to his credit.
Rounding out the top 5 is the reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who only got on the Red Bull in the afternoon to complete the beauty of 76 laps with a best time of 1’25″845. In the morning, however, it was his turn box mate Sergio Perez, at the end 13th in 1’26″333. This means that the Mexican was also slower than the young man brought to the track by the reigning champion team, because Liam Lawson finished tenth in 1’26″281.
The Williamses were the revelation of the session, with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant who even hoisted themselves to sixth and seventh place, improving their performance in the last hour available to them. A nice calling card for the American, announced yesterday by the Grove team for 2023, given that he finished only a few thousandths behind his future teammate.
In the top 10 there is also another of the new faces, namely Nyck De Vries: the Dutch driver signed a sort of record today, because the AlphaTauri is the fourth 2022 car he has driven this year after Mercedes, Williams and Aston Martin. In the end, there was the eighth time for him in 1’26″111, but above all the palm of the driver with the most kilometers completed, with 151 laps. Further back Yuki Tsunoda, 20th, who however finished 135 rounds.
Speaking of Lawson’s tenth time, Lance Stroll also slipped in front of him in ninth position, even if in Aston Martin all eyes were focused on Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard began his new adventure with 97 laps at the wheel of the AMR22 and with a 1’26″312 which kept him in third position when he handed over the wheel to the Canadian in the afternoon. In the end he finished 12th, but the sensations of this first release have been more than positive.
A little further back, in 14th position, there is another of the most awaited men of this day, namely Oscar Piastri. After the much-talked-about break with Alpine, which even required the intervention of the Contract Board, the Australian was finally able to make his debut as a McLaren driver. Despite a stop in the morning linked to a warning from the Mercedes power unit, which also gave rise to one of today’s two red flags, the 2021 Formula 2 champion did a lot of lapping: 123 laps with a best of 1’26″340.
The returning Nico Hulkenberg also had some problems, signed by Haas to return to the starting position after two years of absence (except for a few substitutions) from the Circus. The German veteran lost a lot of time in the morning due to a technical problem with his VF-22. However, he made up for it in the afternoon, completing 110 laps with the 19th fastest time in 1’27″000.
As you have surely noticed, we have not yet mentioned the Mercedes, but the reason is very simple: they did not score particularly significant performances. Lewis Hamilton, who rode in the afternoon, is 17th in 1’26″750, while George Russell is even 23rd in 1’27″240. The young Frederik Vesti did better than him, making his debut in Formula 1, 22nd in 1’27″216 and author of 124 laps.
Test Abu Dhabi – Times at the end of the day
pos | Pilot | Team | Time | Gap | Turns |
1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:25.245 | 65 | |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:25.383 | +0.138s | 56 |
3 | Robert Schwartzman | Ferrari | 1:25,400 | +0.155s | 116 |
4 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:25,689 | +0.444s | 130 |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:25,845 | +0.600s | 76 |
6 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:25,959 | +0.714s | 118 |
7 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:26.063 | +0.818s | 82 |
8 | Nyck de Vries | Alpha Tauri | 1:26.111 | +0.866s | 151 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:26,263 | +1.018s | 70 |
10 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | 1:26,281 | +1.036s | 111 |
11 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | 1:26,297 | +1.052s | 111 |
12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:26.312 | +1.067s | 97 |
13 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:26,333 | +1.088s | 88 |
14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:26,340 | +1.095s | 123 |
15 | Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin | 1:26,595 | +1.350s | 106 |
16 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:26,709 | +1.464s | 129 |
17 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26,750 | +1.505s | 67 |
18 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:26,890 | +1.645s | 115 |
19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:27,000 | +1.755s | 110 |
20 | Yuki Tsunoda | Alpha Tauri | 1:27,123 | +1.878s | 135 |
21 | Peter Fittipaldi | Haas | 1:27,172 | +1.927s | 99 |
22 | Frederik Vesti | Mercedes | 1:27,216 | +1.971s | 124 |
23 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:27,240 | +1.995s | 73 |
24 | Theo Pourchaire | Alfa Romeo | 1:27,591 | +2.346s | 106 |
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