Jack Crawford was fastest during the Abu Dhabi tests, ahead of Paul Aron and Luke Browning.

The teams of Formula 1 were back on track at Yas Marina for a post-season test day that brought together established drivers and promising young talents. A packed session from 9 a.m. to 18 p.m., organized in partnership with Pirelli, allowed them to prepare for 2026 by testing the Italian manufacturer's new tires. While the regular drivers were at the wheel of cars modified to closely resemble the 2026 versions, the rookies were running the 2025 versions, which explains the rather surprising results.

At the end of an action-packed day, it was American Jak Crawford who set the fastest time. The runner-up in F2 2025 has placed theAston Martin leading thanks to a lap time of 1:23.766, achieved in the last two hours of testing. Just behind him, only 0.081s back, is Paul Aron. The Estonian driver, usually a reserve forAlpine, was exceptionally on track for Sauber, in accordance with the agreement reached this season between the two structures to share his services.

Norris returns after his title win, Hirakawa causes the only interruption

Third place goes to Luke Browning, driving the WilliamsThe Briton thus continues his integration into the Grove team, after several appearances in FP1 this year. He finished ahead of the reserve driver. Classic Mercedes for sale Fred Vesti, who completed an impressive total of 145 laps, and Ayumu Iwasa, fifth on the Red Bull.

Just two days after his first world title, Lando Norris was back on track, sporting a spectacular gold helmet for the occasion. The Briton shared the work at McLaren with Oscar piastri and reservist Pato O'Ward.

There were also some new developments to observe: Isack Hadjar was completing his first laps with Red Bull, in preparation for his arrival alongside Max Verstappen in 2026. Arvid Lindblad, his replacement at Racing Bulls, was discovering his future car before his official entry into F1. HaasReserve driver Ryo Hirakawa caused the only safety car period of the day after going off the track at turn 1.

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Big job for Antonelli, shortened day for Ocon

The most track time was completed by Kimi Antonelli, who finished 157 laps in the Mercedes. Conversely, Esteban Ocon only completed four laps due to an engine problem on his Haas, severely shortening his program.

"This test day was an excellent opportunity for all teams to test the final 2026 tires, the compounds of which should be officially confirmed on Monday. explains Mario Isola, the director of Pirelli Motorsport. Today marked the first time they had the full range of tires available on track, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the new tires' characteristics. By using the same test cars as during development testing, with the same speed limits, the teams were able to easily compare the data recorded at Yas Marina with that gathered during individual test days over the past few months. For our engineers, this test was crucial in confirming the performance differences between the compounds and the levels of degradation, which have been central to our work throughout the year. Analysis of the new tires, which have a smaller contact patch, also allowed us to verify their susceptibility to graining and overheating: two phenomena likely to increase due to the smaller surface area. We now have to wait until the end of January to see these new tires in action during the Barcelona tests on the new generation of cars.

The first test on the 2026 single-seaters will take place from January 26 to 30 in Barcelona.

F1 – Abu Dhabi Post-Season Tests
The day's standings