The post-season testing program started at a brisk pace at the Yas Marina circuit at 9am local time. After the first hours of activity on the track, the pilots were already close to the distance covered in a race, with few breaks and frequent changes of tire compounds to acquire as much information as possible.
At the top of the time table appear and stand out the rookies, who are on the track using the 2021 single-seaters, since it has been confirmed that these cars have more performance than the ‘crutches’, that is, the Formula 1 adapted for test the 18-inch tires, which are worn by the regular drivers.
After the first four hours, that is to say, in the middle of the day, the Mexican Pato O’Ward was leading with the McLaren F1 in his absolute debut with an F1 single-seater. The IndyCar driver was at the top of the table with a time of 1:25.260 and almost 50 laps. Behind him was the Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri, fast and constant with the Alpine.
Formula E champion Nyck de Vries got behind the wheel of the Mercedes W12 and was third by mid-session.
Max Verstappen also returned to the track on Tuesday where he was crowned last Sunday. He appeared on the Yas Marina circuit alongside his father Jos after a relaxed Monday after the celebration party, interrupted only by a publicity engagement. Waiting for him was his faithful track engineer Giampiero Lambiase , who greeted him with several pats on the back before immediately getting down to business.
But the Dutchman had to stop for about an hour and a half (from 10:00 to 11:30 local time) before going back out to complete 51 laps in total. Max is one of nine drivers with ‘mule cars’ running on 18-inch Pirelli tyres, and his Red Bull Racing seemed to be suffering from problems that brought it to a halt.
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Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren also suffered a problem, which was left on the track about an hour after the start of practice. The car was quickly recovered by towing and returned to the pits, but was able to get back out after more than an hour’s break in the garage.
There was also a lot of curiosity in front of the Alfa Romeo boxes for the first appearance with them of Valtteri Bottas, who today begins his preparation for the 2022 season. After returning to the pits at the end of the first ’round’, Valtteri said goodbye to his ex team passing through the Mercedes pitlane area.
The fastest of the drivers using 18-inch tires was Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. Stroll completed a total of 64 laps in the first four hours and finished the morning session seventh with a time of 1m26.579s.
Charles Leclerc was the most active driver, with 87 laps throughout the morning with the SF90 adapted to 18 inches, while Antonio Fuoco drove the 2021 SF21.
Times and standings in Tuesday’s morning session in Abu Dhabi
| pos | Pilot | Equipment | Weather | laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | 1:25.260 | 48 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | Alpine | 1: 25.480 | 59 |
| 3 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes | 1: 25.549 | 35 |
| 4 | Nick Yelloly | Aston Martin | 1:26.254 | 54 |
| 5 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:26.263 | 42 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 1:26.365 | 62 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin* | 1:26.579 | 64 |
| 8 | Juri Vips | Red Bull | 1:26.647 | 71 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari* | 1:26.989 | 87 |
| 10 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari | 1: 27.324 | 70 |
| 11 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri * | 1: 27.348 | 52 52 |
| 12 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:27.476 | 76 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren* | 1:27,508 | 38 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine* | 1:28.112 | 58 |
| 15 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull* | 1:28.978 | 53 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo* | 1:29.601 | 47 |
| 17 | George Russell | Mercedes* | 1:30.134 | 57 |
| 18 | Mike Schumacher | haas* | 1:30.345 | 29 |
* with 18-inch tires
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