A huge amount of laps were completed around Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, and Esteban Ocon ended the season top of the timesheets.
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Esteban Ocon topped the timesheets in the post-season tyre test around Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with young driver running also taking place at Yas Marina.
McLaren reserve driver Pato O’Ward finished second quickest of all on the day, with conditions improving for the drivers as the track cooled towards the end of the day.
Mercedes driver George Russell made contact with the barriers at Turn 6 earlier in the day to put a premature halt to his running, Mercedes subsequently confirming to PlanetF1.com that a component issue caused that problem for the Silver Arrows.
Carlos Sainz had topped the timing sheets following the morning session around Yas Marina, but there were driver changes aplenty for the afternoon and evening as more young drivers took the wheel, along with established race drivers collecting vital tyre data for Pirelli.
Just like their counterparts from the morning, the day was all about putting laps on the board for those entrusted with their cars for the afternoon as the 2023 cars got their final taste of meaningful action.
Frederik Vesti took the reins for Mercedes as they fulfilled their young driver obligations, fresh off the back of finishing runner-up t0 Théo Pourchaire in the Formula 2 title battle – with the Frenchman in action for Alfa Romeo on Tuesday.
The 50-minute interruption following Russell’s crash in the morning meant the planned lunch hour was shortened significantly before the cars got back out on track, meaning the drivers could make the most of the time that was available to them.
The vast majority of the drivers took part in the morning’s action, with only Zak O’Sullivan and Logan Sargeant subbing in for Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto at Williams, along with Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda joining the running at their respective teams as 25 different drivers took part in post-season testing.
And once the temperature peaked in Abu Dhabi, the conditions allowed for lap times to improve, with Ocon moving ahead at the top within the final hour and O’Ward nipping in behind the Alpine driver.
Ocon was able to lower his benchmark further still while IndyCar star O’Ward followed by lowering his quickest time to a 1:24.662, but Vesti lowered his time to just 0.017s behind O’Ward within the final minutes of the day to be third quickest on the day, and with both rookies clocking over 100 laps apiece, it will have been a valuable day behind the wheel.
Other rookies notched a century of laps of Yas Marina to help bolster their Formula 1 experience too, with Jack Doohan, Robert Shwartzman, Felipe Drugovich, Jake Dennis and Oliver Bearman all clearing that barrier as they got used to the demands of driving Formula 1 cars.
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