Ferrari hat-trick to conclude Abu Dhabi tests

Forty-eight hours after concluding the season with a good performance, which saw him secure second place in the drivers' standings with Charles Leclerc and the title of vice-constructors’ champion at the expense of Mercedes, Ferrari finished with an anecdotal but nice hat-trick in Abu Dhabi. There Team has in fact placed its three drivers of the day at the top of the timesheet, with Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles Leclerc and Robert Shwartzman. 

From the start of the morning, the Monegasque quickly took control by sticking a second to the closest external competition. For his part, Robert Shwartzman, development driver for the Scuderia, took the opportunity to show off and was 7/10th behind the vice-world champion at midday, before closing to within a tenth at the end of the day. The best time goes to Carlos Sainz in 1'25"245 in the afternoon.

Theo Pourchaire rode for the 3rd time in F1. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

The best of the rest is Pierre Gasly despite a great first at the wheel of a Alpine, with whom he signed for the next seasons from 2023. The Normand is ahead Max Verstappen, who rode in the afternoon, and the duo Williams Alex Albon-Logan sargeant, 6th and 7th. For its first in green with Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso also shone since he was in 3rd position when he finally got out of the car at around 14 p.m. 

As a reminder, each team ran with a car entrusted to a holder and another to a rookie, in order to test the 2023 tires developed by Pirelli. On the French side, Esteban Ocon did not take part in the test, in order to allow Pierre Gasly to familiarize himself with his new car. Théo Pourchaire, 24th, did a superb job despite what the ranking says. The Habs used the softest compound at the end of the morning, and performed very well on a lap in Medium and on the long stints in the afternoon. 

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