De Vries tops first day of F1 post-season Abu Dhabi test
De Vries posted a 1m23.194s in the closing stages of the opening day of running at the Yas Marina Circuit to end Tuesday with the quickest time, 1.3s clear of fellow rookie runner Liam Lawson, who was driving for AlphaTauri.
Newly-crowned Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri was third-fastest on his first day of running in a current F1 car with Alpine.
IndyCar star Pato O’Ward set the pace in the morning session and ended up fourth overall at the end of Tuesday’s action on his F1 debut test for McLaren, just shy of Piastri's effort.
Next up came new Alfa Romeo signing Guanyu Zhou, who will make his F1 debut next year having secured his graduation from F2.
Juri Vips caused a red flag stoppage with a crash but was still able to set the sixth-fastest time for Red Bull, ahead of Aston Martin test driver Nick Yelloly.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was the quickest of the regular F1 drivers running on Pirelli’s new 18-inch tyres for 2022, with the Italian manufacturer conducting a two-day test programme alongside Tuesday’s young driver test.
The Australian also caused a red flag as he took eighth, ahead of Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin and Robert Shwartzman, who shared driving Ferrari’s mule car in the afternoon with Antonio Fuoco.
Charles Leclerc had been behind the wheel of the Ferrari in the morning as he finished 11th.
Valtteri Bottas made his debut for Alfa Romeo after being given permission to drive for his new team by Mercedes. The Finn was 12th in the order, ahead of Fuoco and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Logan Sargeant racked up 92 laps on his F1 test debut for Williams as he took 15th, before the American caused the third red flag interruption when his car ground to a halt with a power unit issue with less than two hours remaining.
Two days after clinching his maiden F1 title, Max Verstappen returned to the cockpit of his modified Red Bull as he finished behind Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in 17th.
George Russell and Mick Schumacher rounded out the bottom of the order for Mercedes and Haas respectively.
Haas will run two drivers on Wednesday, with Shwartzman getting a run in the team’s 2021 car, while reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi carries out the Pirelli test duties.
With no mule car to run, Williams will be the only team not running on the second and final day of F1 track action in 2021.
| F1 2021 Post-Season Test - Day 1 | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m23.194s |
| 2 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m24.517s |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | Alpine F1 Team | 1m24.523s |
| 4 | Pato O'Ward | MEX | McLaren F1 Team | 1m24.607s |
| 5 | Guanyu Zhou | CHI | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m25.142s |
| 6 | Juri Vips | EST | Red Bull Racing | 1m25.198s |
| 7 | Nick Yelloly | GBR | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m25.333s |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m26.252s |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m26.579s |
| 10 | Robert Shwartzman | RUS | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m26.694s |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m26.989s |
| 12 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m27.183s |
| 13 | Antonio Fuoco | ITA | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m27.324s |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m27.348s |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | 1m27.476s |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1m27.553s |
| 17 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1m28.013s |
| 18 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m28.062s |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m28.499s |
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