Charles Leclerc pips Williams newbie Carlos Sainz in Abu Dhabi F1 test
Charles Leclerc sets the pace as Ferrari top season-ending Abu Dhabi F1 test.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top of the timesheets on the final day of F1 action for 2024 in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.
The Monegasque outpaced his former Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who made his official public debut for Williams, by 0.125 seconds as the 2024 season concluded at the Yas Marina Circuit with a combined Pirelli tyre evaluation and young driver test.
Sainz led the way for much of the nine hours of running until Leclerc dislodged him by posting a new benchmark with a 1m23.510s during the final hour of the day.
The day had run without interruption until the final eight minutes when a red flag was flown for an unclear reason.
Mercedes’ George Russell was third-quickest ahead of ex-Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who took fourth on his second debut with Sauber. His new teammate and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto also made his first appearance for Sauber, finishing 18th.
Having missed the morning’s action as he recovered from illness that saw him pull out of the F2 finale, Andrea Kimi Antonelli did make an appearance in Mercedes’ W15 in the afternoon, finishing fifth-fastest.
RB’s Amuyu Iwasa shot up to sixth with a big improvement during the late stages, with Pato O’Ward seventh for McLaren, ahead of Jack Doohan, who made his F1 race debut for Alpine last weekend.
Newly-confirmed 2025 Alpine reserve driver Paul Aron was ninth-fastest on his first F1 outing, with new Haas signing Esteban Ocon rounding out the top-10.
Liam Lawson ended up 13th for RB and logged the most laps of the 23 drivers who took part, completing 159 tours of Yas Marina.
Yuki Tsunoda had his first run in a Red Bull F1 car, finishing the day 17th, just behind McLaren's Lando Norris, who had a spin at Turn 14 in the morning.
The 2025 F1 season kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 16 March.
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