Two days after the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season, the last official test day of the year took place on Tuesday at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) secured the best time in 1:25.245 minutes, ahead of his two teammates Charles Leclerc (+0.138) and Robert Schwarzman (+0.155).
So Ferrari says goodbye to the winter break with at least a psychologically pleasing result. Schwarzman in particular, whom team boss Mattia Binotto thinks highly of, was able to convince with his time. Incidentally, unlike most other drivers, he only drove it in the last hour, when the conditions were at their coolest.
The focus of interest, however, was on those drivers who made their first appearance in new colors. For example Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). And of course Nico Hülkenberg, 2023 the only German in Formula 1 to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas and covered his first kilometers in the VF-22 on Tuesday.
However, not everything went smoothly. The 35-year-old German had completed 26 laps when he coasted to a stop after just over an hour. The team reported that “a few mistakes” occurred, which is why the car had to be brought back to the pits. Hulkenberg was then in the pits for more than two hours before he could continue his test program.
Formula 1: This is how Nico Hulkenberg cut off
By the end of the day, Hulkenberg managed a total of 110 laps. The hunt for times was of secondary importance.
Already on Monday he explained what is in the foreground at the Haas premiere: “For me it’s a little preview to get a feeling for the car. For how this car works. How I fit in. We can do all the basics do it.”
A good hour after Hülkenberg’s breakdown, the first red flag of the test day passed when Piastri (14th / +1.095) rolled out.
He contested his first assignment for McLaren and had to stop due to warnings to be on the safe side. He had done 50 laps by then. In the end it was 123, and he was even faster than Lando Norris (18th / +1.645).
Pierre Gasly finishes fourth in Alpine debut
Behind the Ferrari trio at the front, Gasly finished fourth in Alpine’s debut. The Frenchman improved to a best time of 1:25.689 minutes in the final minutes of the nine-hour test day, 0.444 seconds behind Sainz. Fifth was Max Verstappen (Red Bull / +0.600), followed by Alexander Albon (+0.714) and Logan Sargeant (both Williams / +0.818).
However, the lap times played a relatively minor role in the test. The focus was on two things: firstly, the new tires for the 2023 season, which Pirelli wanted to undergo a final check, and secondly, the opportunity for young drivers with a maximum of two Formula 1 races to gain experience in the car.
Teams are allowed to use two cars
Therefore, in contrast to the classic winter tests before the start of the season, the teams were allowed to use two cars if they wanted to. First, any driver for the tire tests, second, a so-called “young driver” for the rookie tests. A total of 24 drivers were registered for Tuesday, including Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
The two superstars only entered the test in the afternoon. With one of his faster runs, Verstappen broke the Ferrari triple lead, was briefly third and finally fifth; Hamilton concentrated on long runs with the Mercedes and ended up 17th. He was 1.505 seconds behind the best time.
Fernando Alonso: How long will he stay?
The star of the event, however, was Alonso, who had already moved from Alpine to Aston Martin with his stuff on Sunday evening. The 41-year-old showed up in black racing overalls on Tuesday morning and raised eyebrows in his subsequent media round when he announced Aston Martin was just “maybe” his last team in Formula 1.
Because, strictly speaking, he is still contractually bound to Alpine and only received early approval for this test, Alonso was not allowed to show any sponsors from Aston Martin. He therefore drove in neutral racing overalls, a helmet in a neutral camouflage design and a car from which all sponsor stickers had to be removed except for series partners such as Pirelli.
Alonso completed 97 laps in just over five hours. At the end there was a best time of 1:26.312 minutes. He was 1.216 seconds slower than in the Alpine on Saturday in qualifying, but: Even the fastest of the day, Sainz, stayed a good second behind his time from qualifying three days earlier.
As is usual on a first day of testing in a new team, the Aston Martin didn’t fit like a glove for Alonso: “The seat hurts a bit on the left side. There are a few small things, but that only affects comfort.” , says the Spaniard. “I was pleasantly surprised by everything else.”
Fernando Alonso with a dig at Alpine
Of course, the obligatory dig at his previous employer Alpine should not be missing from Alonso’s test conclusion either: “When they told me yesterday how many kilometers the engine already had on it, I was very concerned. Measured by what I’m used to, that was it a very high number. But we managed 97 laps with no problems. Exceptional!”
Also new: The longtime McLaren and Mercedes Junior Nyck de Vries (8th / +0.866) was already in the AlphaTauri and Mercedes made it possible for Frederik Vesti (22nd / +1.971) to make his debut in a Formula 1 car.
Vesti is 20 years old, comes from Denmark and was ninth in the Formula 2 championship in 2022. He is part of the Mercedes junior squad.