Abu Dhabi’s one-day test is a combined exercise to hand Pirelli extra tyre data while also providing a chance for rookie drivers to gather valuable miles. All teams ran two cars, one for each assignment.
Russell caused the most notable incident by crashing in Turn 6 four hours into the session, after a suspected technical failure punted the Mercedes driver into the barriers.
The incident, which caused significant damage to the W14’s front-right corner, forced Russell to sit out the rest of the day after completing 58 laps.
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George Russell’s Mercedes F1 W14 is returned to the pits on the back of a truck
It was the second stoppage of the day after an earlier water leak between Turns 13 and 14 delayed the action. The red flag was brought out a third time in the final hour by Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa, who ground to a halt in the AlphaTauri with 40 minutes on the clock.
The test had already faced an initial 25-minute delay from its planned 9:00am local start time caused by a wait for the medical helicopter.
Carlos Sainz topped the morning running ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with a 1m24.799s for Ferrari on softs, a time which kept him on top until sunset while he handed over the SF-23 to Charles Leclerc.
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Jake Dennis, Red Bull Racing RB19
Ocon finally lowered the Spaniard’s benchmark with a 1m24.393s after 110 laps, followed by McLaren’s reserve driver Pato O’Ward in second with 103 laps completed.
Mercedes junior and F2 runner-up Frederik Vesti, who was at the wheel of Mercedes’ rookie car, completed the top three with a 1m24.679s after 106 laps.
Perez further demoted Sainz to fifth in the cooler evening conditions, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who completed just 37 laps as he split the day with Lance Stroll.
Rookies Jack Doohan (Alpine) and Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari) were seventh and eighth respectively, with Williams Logan Sargeant and Leclerc rounding out the top 10.
Newly-crowned F2 champion Theo Pourchaire was up in 11th after an early hiccup saw him stop short of reaching the 100-lap barrier for Alfa Romeo.
Red Bull’s Jake Dennis completed 124 laps aboard the RB19, while the test day also gave Argentina’s Franco Colapinto his F1 debut with half a day in the Williams.
Pietro Fittipaldi was the most productive driver of the day with 130 laps completed for Haas, relieving regular…
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