- Abu Dhabi young driver test - Day one
Ricciardo tops Abu Dhabi young driver test for Red Bull
- Drivers:
- Jules Bianchi
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- Jérôme d'Ambrosio
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- Paul di Resta
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- Rodolfo Gonzalez
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- Pastor Maldonado
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- Daniel Ricciardo
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- Oliver Turvey
- Teams:
- Alfa Romeo
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- Ferrari
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- HRT
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- McLaren
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- Mercedes
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- Racing Point
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- Red Bull
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- Renault
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- Team Lotus
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- Toro Rosso
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- Virgin
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- Williams
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo set the pace on the opening day of the young driver test in Abu Dhabi, just two days after the team wrapped up the drivers' title with Sebastian Vettel at the same circuit.
Ricciardo's best time of 1:39.616 was just 0.222 seconds off Vettel's pole position time last Saturday, although the circuit conditions have improved after 55 laps of running on Sunday. Ricciardo is a rising star in the Red Bull junior programme, having finished second in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship this year and being named as the team's permanent reserve driver.
Mirroring Saturday's F1 qualifying, a McLaren was second fastest, with Oliver Turvey continuing in fine form after taking pole in the GP2 feature race over the weekend. He was over a second off Ricciardo's best but was likely running heavier fuel and a different testing programme. He will hand the car over to Gary Paffett tomorrow before returning to test the new Pirelli tyres at the weekend.
Force India's Antonio Felix da Costa set the third fastest time for Force India with a late effort to beat Sauber test driver Esteban Gutierrez in fourth. Felix da Costa also beat the morning baseline time set by Force India's permanent test driver Paul di Resta by over a second, but again fuel loads and test programmes are unknown.
F2 champion Dean Stoneman was a solid fifth fastest for Williams, as he made the most of his prize for topping the feeder series this year. Formula Renault 3.5 champion Mikhail Aleshin also made good use of his prize and was sixth fastest at the end of the day in the Renault.
Virgin's Jerome d'Ambrosio was the fastest of the new team drivers, but has completed significant mileage in the car during Friday testing this year. He is tipped for a race drive next year, replacing Lucas di Grassi, and his best lap was a full second faster than the Brazilian's qualifying time.
Pastor Maldonado, another driver likely to be on the grid next year, also impressed. The 2010 GP2 champion was at the wheel of an HRT on Tuesday before switching to Williams - his likely team for 2011 - on Wednesday. He was a tenth of a second up on the Ferrari of Jules Bianchi, who was not out to set fastest laps and will drive again on Wednesday, and two tenths up on Roldofo Gonzalez in the Lotus. Indonesian Rio Haryanto was off the pace in the Vrgin but was sidelined for much of his session by a technical problem.
The second day of testing will see a number of changes at several teams, with Sauber's 2011 driver Sergio Perez among those making their F1 debuts.
Pos. | Driver | Car | Best Time | Laps |
1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:39.616 | 83 |
2 | Oliver Turvey | McLaren | 1:40.725 | 85 |
3 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Force India | 1:41.381 | 77 |
4 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:41:432 | 88 |
5 | Dean Stoneman | Williams | 1:41.522 | 70 |
6 | Mikhail Aleshin | Renault | 1:42.073 | 58 |
7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:42.489 | 93 |
8 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:42.736 | 28 |
9 | Sam Bird | Mercedes | 1:42.985 | 67 |
10 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:43.518 | 36 |
11 | Pastor Maldonado | HRT | 1:43.750 | 108 |
12 | Jules Bianchi | Ferrari | 1:43.894 | 59 |
13 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Lotus | 1:44.294 | 83 |
14 | Rio Haryanto | Virgin | 1:49.439 | 21 |