Leclerc tops post-season test in Abu Dhabi as Sainz, Ocon and more debut for new teams

Charles Leclerc set the pace for Ferrari during Tuesday’s post-season test session at the Yas Marina Circuit, leading the way from former team mate and new Williams driver Carlos Sainz and the Mercedes of George Russell.

A couple of days on from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, teams returned to action for a split test featuring dedicated rookie drivers and regular racers – each outfit running two cars for nine hours of continuous action from 0900-1800 local time.

READ MORE: All the drivers taking part in the 2024 post-season test in Abu Dhabi

F1 tyre supplier Pirelli did not set out their own fixed programme, with teams instead able to approach the test how they saw fit, meaning regular set-up changes and a host of different high, medium and low-fuel runs on various tyre compounds.

In terms of the rookies, they used the same compounds selected for the Abu Dhabi race weekend, with every driver given two sets of C3s, four sets of C4s and two sets of C5s, while the race drivers ran the homologated versions of Pirelli’s 2025 tyres.

With the C1 remaining on the sidelines due to it not suiting the track, one set of C2s, three each of the C3s and C4s, two of the C5s and one of the C6s were available per race driver – the latter being a new ultra-soft compound to expand the Pirelli range.

Some significant driver moves headlined the test, given that Carlos Sainz made his first appearance for Williams, Esteban Ocon got an initial taste of life at Haas and Kick Sauber ran their all-new 2025 pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.

Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda took part in his first Red Bull test after several years with the sister RB team, Kimi Antonelli shrugged off illness to continue preparations for his F1 debut at Mercedes, and another F2 racer in Paul Aron hit the track as Alpine’s reserve driver.

GALLERY: Sainz at Williams, Ocon at Haas and more as drivers hit the track for Abu Dhabi post-season test

Sainz was quick to make an impression when the green light switched on at the end of the pit lane, building on a filming run on Monday to post the early benchmark – the Spaniard clocking up several improvements to remain top of the timesheets at midday.

As the day wore on, with temperatures dropping and the floodlights switching on around the circuit, lap times tumbled further amid conditions similar to those seen in last weekend’s qualifying session and race, bringing another batch of quick times.

At the end of it all, it was Leclerc who secured P1 with a time of 1m 23.510s shortly before the chequered flag, just over a tenth up on Sainz – who experienced an emotional Ferrari farewell on Sunday – and a further tenth-and-a-half clear of Russell.

Hulkenberg marked his return to Sauber in fourth, from Antonelli and RB tester Ayumu Iwasa, who spent 2024 racing in Super Formula, as McLaren reserve Pato O’Ward – of IndyCar fame – pipped newly-promoted Alpine driver Jack Doohan to seventh position.

F2’s Aron was just a few thousandths down on Doohan in ninth via a composed rookie display, with former Alpine man Ocon, Williams youngster Luke Browning and Toyota-backed Haas test driver Ryo Hirakawa filling positions 10 to 12 on the timesheets.

READ MORE: 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Abu Dhabi – Who signed off their season in style?

Liam Lawson was the most active driver of the day as he racked up a whopping 159 laps of the venue, which came close to three race distances – the New Zealander slotting into 13th over Ferrari development driver Arthur Leclerc and Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Lando Norris placed 16th after his morning run in the car, three positions up on team mate Oscar Piastri, who took over for the afternoon, with Tsunoda and Bortoleto slotting between them after their maiden runs for Red Bull and Sauber.

Jak Crawford, part of Aston Martin’s development programme, added to his F1 mileage in 20th, ahead of the team’s reserve Felipe Drugovich, Mercedes’ own reserve in Frederik Vesti and Ferrari development driver Antonio Fuoco – the latter two also only driving in the morning.