Abu Dhabi 2023 Post-Season Test - Opening Session Results

The 2023 post-season testing results at Yas Marina Circuit have been led by Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.

Similar to the Free Practice One session ahead of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, multiple teams opted to give their rookie drivers an opportunity to drive F1 cars.

While the fuel loads and tire compounds varied, almost all F1 drivers outperformed their rookie colleagues. The only two drivers who didn't were Zhou Guanyu, Alex Albon, and Lance Stroll.

Zhou was outperformed by the new Formula 2 Champion Theo Pourchaire, Albon was outperformed by Franco Collapinto, and Felipe Drugovich outperformed Stroll.

It is also important to note that teams usually test new car components in post-season testing, so even two cars in a single team might have varied from each other.

George Russell on Mercedes put on a better lap time than the runner-up in the F2 Championship, Frederik Vesti. But then, on his 58th lap, the British driver suffered an incident.

Russell apparently crashed his Mercedes into one of the barriers due to technical issues. His incident caused an early end to the testing.

Sergio Perez got the last 49 laps to enjoy what his team principal called a "rocket ship of a car," and he surely did, setting the second-best lap time.

His teammate Max Verstappen has been substituted by Jake Dennis, who scored a P7. The third fastest driver on Tuesday was Oscar Piastri, who put in more than half-a-second faster lap than Lando Norris's substitute Pato O’Ward.

Two remaining drivers that took part in the post-season testing were Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon whose lap times were enough for P12 and P13.

Concluding the session, all the teams gathered essential data for 2024 car development. 2023 just ended, but we already can't wait for the first race of the 2024 season in Bahrain, which is scheduled to take place in 94 days.