Teams could run two cars at the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday, one for testing 2023 tyre compounds and the other for a rookie driver.
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Ferrari rounded out the year with a one-two-three on a busy day of testing in Abu Dhabi, running the 2022 Formula 1 cars together for the final time. Teams could run two cars at the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday, one for testing 2023 tyre compounds and the other for a rookie driver who could use both this year’s and next year’s tyres. This allowed a number of drivers to get their first outings for new teams, with Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries, and Nico Hulkenberg all seen for the first time in their new cars.
But it was a pair of familiar faces who topped the times at the end of the nine-hour day, with Carlos Sainz quickest for Ferrari ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc by just over 0.1s. Sainz had taken over from Leclerc for the afternoon while rookie driver Robert Shwartzman drove, and a late lap from the test driver saw him finish third, only 0.017s slower than Leclerc’s best effort.
Gasly finished fourth on his first day in the Alpine, just over 0.4s behind Sainz, thanks to a flying lap in the final 10 minutes of racing as the floodlights came on after sunset. After taking over from Sergio Perez at lunchtime and completing 76 laps, world champion Max Verstappen finished fifth, ahead of the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant. Because Sargeant was a rookie, Williams was one of three teams that could run their entire 2023 driver lineup, along with McLaren and AlphaTauri.
De Vries finished seventh overall and the busiest driver of the day, completing 152 laps and finishing ahead of Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson for Red Bull – who, like De Vries, spun at Turn 5 – and Jack Doohan for Alpine. Former Alpine driver Alonso’s race on Sunday was cut short due to a suspected water leak, so it’s no surprise he was eager to be first out on track and get as much running with new team Aston Martin as possible during Tuesday’s test.
Alonso was also the first driver on track after the first red flag of the day, and drove into the afternoon before handing over to new teammate Lance Stroll, completing 97 laps that were painful due to his seat, but gave him a positive first impression of Aston’s car.
Piastri, another driver who left Alpine this year, finished 14th overall on his public debut for McLaren and comfortably exceeded 100 laps despite causing the day’s first red flag when he stopped at Turn 7. That was one of two interruptions, the other being for debris – though that red flag was so brief that Hulkenberg was able to roll straight through and rejoin the track as the session resumed.
