Delays, mysterious crash and Esteban Ocon fastest: What happened in F1’s post-season Abu Dhabi test?
The Alpine driver ended the day - which featured a combined Pirelli tyre and young driver test - with the fastest time on a 1m24.393s, nearly three-tenths faster than his nearest rival.ꦐ
Pato O’Ward was the quickest of the rookie drivers as he took second for McLaren, ahead of F2 vice champion Frederik﷽ Vesti in the Mercedes.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth-fastest, while Carlos Sainz, who set the pace in the morning, ended up fourth for Ferrari, ahead of fellow Spaniard and Aston Martin driver Fer🌄nando Alonso.
Alpine reserve Jack Doohan was seventh, ahead of Ferrari back-up Robert Shwartzman and Logan Sargeant, whose future at Williams remains up iඣn the ai🦂r.
Charles Leclerc 𝄹rounded out the top-10 as he and Sa🌌inz split tyre testing duties for Pirelli.
Newly-crowned F2 c𒁃hampion and Alfa Roꦰmeo reserve Theo Pourchaire took 11th, while Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda were 12th and 13th.
Formula E champion Jake Dennis got another chance to drive Red Bull’s dominant RB19 and finished 1🌳4th, ahead of Ayumu Iwasa, who made his F1 debut for AlphaTaur♋i.
Iwasa caused a late red flag during the final hour of running when his AlphaTauri broke down with smoke pouring out of the rear.&n🧸bsp;
Meanwhile, George Russell’s day came to a premature end in the morning after the Briton cra🌊shed at 🌠Turn 6 which triggered a red flag and a Mercedes investigation into a suspected car failure.
Anoth🎶er F1 debutant, Franco Colapinto, finished 22nd for Willi🌄ams.
The day got off to a delayeꦡd start due to the medical helicopter not showing up on time for th♔e planned 9am green flag, before a water leak under the W Hotel bridge led to a further stoppage.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who ♛matter in the sport.
