Sainz heads Ferrari one-two-three in Abu Dhabi test

Carlos Sainz had headed a Ferrari one-two-three at the Formula 1 post-season test in Abu Dhabi.

Sainz stepped into the car in the latter part of the day, replacing Charles Leclerc who had been the morning’s pace-setter.

The Spaniard’s ultimate 1:25.245s left him atop the timesheets though, in reality, it has little meaning.

More important was that he, Leclerc, and Robert Shwartzman enjoyed reliable running for Ferrari, logging over 1200 km across the day.

Pierre Gasly was fourth, the Frenchman racking up 130 laps as he made his debut for Alpine, ahead of Max Verstappen who managed 76 laps after taking over from Sergio Perez.

Nyck de Vries mustered the most running, with 151 laps to his name, followed by his Scuderia AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who recorded 135.

The second half of the day, which ran without a dedicated midday break, was interruption free.

Red flags were shown twice in the morning, once when Oscar Piastri had a power unit sensor issue and a second for debris.

There were no such hindrances in the latter half of the day, with a spin for Lando Norris the only noteworthy moment of the afternoon when he lost control at Turn 5.

Through the middle of the day, when conditions were at their hottest, teams focused on long runs.

Inside the last hour of the day, with the sun fading and the Yas Marina lights taking hold, times dropped.

Cooler track temperatures were more conducive to fast times, with several drivers given the opportunity to complete qualifying simulations.

Piastri was among them, the Australian afforded two sets of the red-walled soft rubber to use.

That resulted in the 14th fastest time, three spots down on Jack Doohan who spent the day chalking up 111 laps for Alpine.

With the test now completed, teams head back to their respective bases and begin preparations for 2023.

That includes car build among other tasks, with winter testing set to take place in Bahrain on February 23-25.

Those three days of running, with teams fielding just a single car shared by its drivers, mark the only track time before the season-opening race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on March 5.

Results: Formula 1 post-season test, Abu Dhabi