Delays, mysterious crash and Esteban Ocon fastest: What happened in F1’s post-season Abu Dhabi test?
The Alpine driver ende♓d the day - which featured a combined Pirelli tyre and young driver test - with the fastest time on a 1m24.393s, nearly three-tenths fas🅘ter than his nearest rival.
Pato O’Ward was the ꦇquickest 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 Fe🧜rrari, ahead of fellow Spaniard and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.
Alpine reserve Jack Doohan was seventh, ahead of Ferrari back-up Robert Shwartz๊man and Logan Sargeant, whose fu🐈ture at Williams remains up in the air.
Charles Leclerc rounded ou📖t the top-10 as he and Sainz split tyre testing duties for Pirelli.
Newly-crowned F2 champion and Alfa Romeo reserve Theo Pourchaire too🐼k 11th, while Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich and Alp𒈔haTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda were 12th and 13th.
Formula E champion Jake Dennis got another chance to drive Red Bull’s dominant RB19 and finished 14th, ahea꧋d of Ayumu Iwasa, who made his F1 debut for AlphaTauri.
Iwasa caused a late red flag during the final hour of running 🉐when his AlphaTauri broke down with smoke pouring out of the rear.
Meanwhile, George Russell’s day came to a premature end i🍒n the morning after the Briton crashed at Turn 6 which triggered a red flag and a Mercedes investigation into a suspected car fಞailure.
Another F1 debutant, Franco Colapinto🔯, finished 22nd for William🧸s.
The day got off to a delayed🤪 start due to the medical helicopter not showing up on time for the planned 9am green flag, before a water leak under the W Hotel bridge led to a further stoppage.
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