What the F1 teams did during testing in Abu Dhabi after the season finale

The test day in the Persian Gulf country has been held continuously after the Abu Dhabi GP in recent years, with two purposes: the first purpose is to provide data required by Pirelli for next season’s test tires, and the second is to provide more The new and aspiring drivers of the teams’ academies can gain experience with Formula 1 cars.

This year, the sport’s 10 teams will take part in this test day with their two cars for each of these two purposes. One will be driven by each team’s established competitors, the other by new drivers.

For both reasons, every car completes triple-digit lap times throughout the day. Young drivers in particular take advantage of the opportunity, which they do not get at any other time of the year other than the winter tests and two free practice sessions at the GPs of the year, to gain experience driving the best cars in the world.

As a result, we saw riders – like Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi – complete up to 130 laps, meaning they completed two GPs in one day, and even more – considering the Yas Marina race was 58 laps. Many teams – such as Ferrari – also decided to have both racing drivers take part in the tire tests.

What happened during the tests?

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon scored for the first time this day of testing, with a speed about a second slower than Max Verstappen’s pole position three days earlier. The big surprise of the day, however, was George Russell’s crash in Turn 6.

The Englishman lost control of his Mercedes W14 and crashed into the barriers at Turn 6, possibly due to a mechanical problem. The front right side of the car was badly damaged, meaning Russell’s day was over after 58 laps. Testing was also halted earlier due to a water leak at turns 13 and 14 and then towards the end for the third time when Alpha Tauri stopped on track with youngster Ayumou Iwasa.

Additionally, the day started with a 20-minute delay due to the wait for the rescue helicopter. Before the lunch break, Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari SF-23 was the fastest with a time of 1:24.799 on the soft Pirelli tires. In the afternoon, the Spaniard’s place in Cavallino was taken by Charles Leclerc, and towards the end Alpine’s Esteban Ocon shaved four tenths off Saint’s time.

The protagonist in the USA Peito O’Ward with a McLaren MCL60, the runners-up in this year’s F2 Frédéric Vesti with a Mercedes and Ceco Perez with a Red Bull RB19 also moved faster than the Spaniard. Max Verstappen did not take part in these tests, neither did Lewis Hamilton. But the gift came from Fernando Alonso, who shared the Aston Martin AMR23 with Lance Stroll.

Theo Purser, who was crowned Formula 2 champion at the weekend, competed for Alfa Romeo F1 – the team’s last appearance under that name – and finished 11th, about a second ahead of Ocon.

Jack Doohan, Robert Schwarzman and Felipe Drugovic already had extensive Formula 1 experience, but these tests saw the debut of Argentinian Franco Colapinto with Williams and Iwasa with Alpha Tauri. Jake Dennis from Red Bull and Oliver Berman from Haas (as a member of the Ferrari Academy) also took part in Friday’s free practice and were once again very positive and productive.

ABU DHABI TRIAL 2023

• 1. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 1:24.393 – 110 laps
• 2. Peito O’Ward (McLaren) 1:24.662 – 103 laps
• 3. Frédéric Vesti (Mercedes) 1:24.679 – 106 laps
• 4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 1:24.715 – 117 laps
• 5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 1:24.799 – 69 laps
• 6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1:24.827 – 37 laps
• 7. Jack Doohan (Alpine) 1:25.038 – 108 laps
• 8. Robert Schwarzman (Ferrari) 1:25.050 – 123 laps
• 9. Logan Sargeant (Williams) 1:25.263 – 56 laps
• 10. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:25.371 – 66 laps
• 11. Teo Purser (Alfa Romeo) 1:25.424 – 96 laps
• 12. Felipe Drugovic (Aston Martin) 1:25.554 – 123 laps
• 13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1:25.570 – 59 laps
• 14. Jake Dennis (Red Bull) 1:25.666 – 124 laps
• 15. Ayumou Iwasa (AlphaTauri) 1:25.753 – 96 laps
• 16. Oliver Berman (Haas) 1:25.779 – 110 laps
• 17. Zach O’Sullivan (Williams) 1:25.842 – 50 laps
• 18. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:25.930 – 123 laps
• 19. Pietro Fittipaldi (Haas) 1:25.940 – 130 laps
• 20. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:26.283 – 58 laps
• 21. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:26.681 – 50 laps
• 22. Franco Colapinto (Williams) 1:26.832 – 65 laps
• 23. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) 1:26.965 – 55 laps
• 24. Guanyu Chow (Alfa Romeo) 1:27.387 – 106 laps
• 25. Alex Albon (Williams) 1:27.824 – 51 laps