Young driver tests: Alonso sets the fastest time ahead of the Mercedes cars
Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in the test sessions for young drivers, ahead of Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne in the Mercedes.
The brand-new Renault driver surely wanted to put an end to the controversy surrounding his participation in these F1 tests reserved for young drivers. At 39 years old, the native of Oviedo wanted to show that he hadn’t lost any of his brilliance.
He achieved a time of 1:36.333 at the wheel of a modern R.S.20, not an R25 from 2005 like last week; the exhibition is over, and it’s time for performance. With 105 laps at the wheel of the Renault, the Spaniard clocked an interesting time, as it’s the best time for a Renault single-seater on this track this year. However, it should be noted that the track conditions were different today, with much more rubber laid down on the track due to the Grand Prix this weekend.
The attention was obviously also on the Haas number 50 driven by Mick Schumacher. The German was more studious than fast during this testing day, completing 125 laps with a time of 1:39.947, placing him 15th and last. His goal is to better understand this Haas while adapting to Pirelli tires that are radically different from those offered in F2.
Another driver drawing attention was Yuki Tsunoda, whose name is being considered for a seat with AlphaTauri as early as 2021. The 20-year-old Japanese driver tried his hand at driving the AT01 today after having piloted the 2018 STR 13 on the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit. With a lap time of 1:37.557 and 123 laps, he finished the day with the fifth-fastest time ahead of Marino Sato, his teammate for the day.
Ferrari was one of the teams that did the most laps, with its drivers Antonio Fuoco and Robert Shwartzman completing 255 laps between them. Although these tests are not intended to test parts for next season, it is nevertheless clear that the Scuderia needed track time to finally understand this SF1000.
Note that Sébastien Buemi caused the red flag to be deployed during the day when he took the Red Bull into the Tech-pro barriers. More fear than harm, but a lot of time lost on the track for the Austrian company.
Day 1 Rankings in Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
| Driver | Ecurie | Times | Laps | ||
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:36.333 | 105 | |
| 2 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes | 1:36.595 | 110 | |
| 3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes | 1:36.840 | 82 | |
| 4 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo | 1:37.446 | 89 | |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | AphaTauri | 1:37.557 | 123 | |
| 6 | Jüri Vips | Red Bull | 1:37.770 | 101 | |
| 7 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari | 1:37.817 | 126 | |
| 8 | Callum Ilott | Alfa Romeo | 1:37.826 | 93 | |
| 9 | Guanyu Zhou | Renault | 1:37.902 | 98 | |
| 10 | Jack Aitken | Williams | 1:38.153 | 78 | |
| 11 | Robert Shwartzmann | Ferrari | 1:38.157 | 129 | |
| 12 | Sébastien Buemi | Red Bulll | 1:38.284 | 77 | |
| 13 | Marino Sato | AlphaTauri | 1:38.495 | 127 | |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | Williams | 1:39.800 | 75 | |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1:39.947 | 126 |
