F1: Ferrari sizzles, Mercedes fizzles, Sargeant Shines in Abu Dhabi Test

Following Sunday’s season finale, all 10 teams stayed on at the Yas Marina Circuit for Tuesday’s one-day test to help Pirelli with 2023 tire preparation.

In summary, Ferrari sizzled with the top-3 times, Mercedes fizzled toward the back, and American rookie Logan Sargeant was impressive with the 7th best time

Carlos Sainz Jr. set the fastest time of 1m25.245s for Ferrari, edging 0.138s clear of teammate Charles Leclerc to close out the 2022 season.

Sainz was slower than the 1m23.824s lap set by Max Verstappen in qualifying Saturday, but this was a tire test, where all-out speed was not the goal.

Fernando Alonso said he was “happily surprised by everything” after his first day in the Aston Martin car.

Fernando Alonso’s first day in the Aston Martin

“This year’s car is not anywhere near of what we will run next year,” said Alonso.

“It was not really to get confident or anything like that, it’s not that it’s going to be a continuation of this car or anything like that.

“For sure, they had a very strong weekend here. Sebastian Vettel qualified in front of me, so I don’t think there was much of a difference between Aston Martin and Alpine on the weekend.

“I felt basically the same as well, I felt a very competitive car. Both Aston Martins finished in the points, so it was a good car anyway.”

“When I signed for Aston Martin, I was 90% happy. When they started improving and finished the season on a high, I was 100%. This morning, I was 100 and now I’m 100-plus.”

F1’s next running will take place on February 23, the opening day of the sole pre-season test in Bahrain ahead of the 2023 campaign.

F1 Abu Dhabi post-season test results

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1m25.245s +0.000s 65
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m25.383s +0.138s 56
3 Robert Shwartzman Ferrari 1m25.400s +0.155s 116
4 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1m25.689s +0.444s 130
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m25.845s +0.600s 76
6 Alexander Albon Williams 1m25.959s +0.714s 118
7 Logan Sargeant Williams 1m26.063s +0.818s 82
8 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1m26.111s +0.866s 151
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1m26.263s +1.018s 70
10 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1m26.281s +1.036s 111
11 Jack Doohan Alpine 1m26.297s +1.052s 111
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1m26.312s +1.067s 97
13 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1m26.333s +1.088s 88
14 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1m26.340s +1.095s 123
15 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin 1m26.595s +1.350s 106
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1m26.709s +1.464s 129
17 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m26.750s +1.505s 67
18 Lando Norris McLaren 1m26.890s +1.645s 115
19 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1m27.000s +1.755s 110
20 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1m27.123s +1.878s 135
21 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas 1m27.172s +1.927s 99
22 Frederik Vesti Mercedes 1m27.216s +1.971s 124
23 George Russell Mercedes 1m27.240s +1.995s 73
24 Theo Pourchaire Alfa Romeo 1m27.591s +2.346s 106
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