The 2024 Formula 1 season is over, but the engines continue to roar in Abu Dhabi. Numerous drivers completed test drives in their old and new cars on Tuesday morning (CET). Also Nico Hülkenberg, whose first appearance for Audi/Sauber didn’t go quite as hoped.
Carlos Sainz won the first half of Formula 1 testing in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The ex-Ferrari driver set the fastest lap in his Williams and recorded a time of 1:24.435 minutes on the 25 Pirelli tires.
Second in the (not very meaningful) time table was Sainz’s ex-teammate Charles Leclerc, for whom the clock stopped after 1:24.561 minutes. Lando Norris (McLaren) finished about a tenth behind in third place.
Some new names lined up in the other places. McLaren test driver Pato O’Ward ended the session in a good fifth place, directly behind Alpine newcomer Jack Doohan.
The top 10 was completed by Antonio Fuoco and Nico Hülkenberg’s upcoming teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, who, like Fuoco, initially took a seat in the Ferrari on Tuesday. Luke Browning (Williams), Paul Aron (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) took eighth, ninth and tenth place.
Nico Hülkenberg drives behind in Formula 1 testing
Hülkenberg’s first outing in the Sauber didn’t go quite according to plan. The Emmericher only recorded a time of 1:26.351 and thus only ended up in 16th place in the classification. Small consolation for Hulk: Ryo Hirakawa and Esteban Ocon, who were both driving the Haas, held the red lantern at the end of the session and were still a good deal slower than the German, who occupied his Haas cockpit for the last time on Sunday.
The tests in Abu Dhabi serve two main purposes: On the one hand, many kilometers are to be driven on the new Pirelli tires in order to put them through their paces. On the other hand, the teams are obliged to give their young drivers the chance to show themselves. One car per team is running with the new tires, the other with a young driver.