Private Tests – Day 1: Vergne and Bianchi Leaders in Abu Dhabi!
Today in Abu Dhabi was the first day of private testing for young drivers (Rookies Days). Under the sun and on a clean track, many laps were completed and the French drivers shone. As this morning, Jean-Eric Vergne is at the top of the standings this evening. He is ahead of his compatriot Jules Bianchi while Charles Pic was behind the wheel of the Virgin.
The Rookie Days aim to give new talents a chance to prove themselves in Formula 1. Teams can take advantage of this opportunity to test new parts for the upcoming season.
Red Bull Renault has placed its trust in the Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne. Vice-champion of the World Series By Renault, he completed this first day very well and improved his morning time by 7 tenths. With this time, he achieved a better performance than Sebastian Vettel during Free Practice 1 and 2 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, held this weekend. Vergne is ahead of another Frenchman, Jules Bianchi, by nearly a second. The Ferrari, which made it to the podium this weekend, is supposedly slightly less performant than a McLaren-Mercedes. Yet the first McLaren is nearly two seconds behind the Frenchman.
Third in the standings today, Robert Wickens was driving the Renault. The Canadian, who won the World Series this season, has shown that he has potential. He is ahead of Fabio Leimer’s Sauber and Gary Paffett’s McLaren.
Max Chilton finished the day in 6th position. He is only a tenth behind the McLaren. He is ahead of Bottas. The Finn experienced gearbox issues early in the afternoon and wasn’t able to complete all the expected laps. He was in a promising 4th place this morning but still improved by 7 tenths.
Turvey ran only this morning; he is 8th ahead of the Mercedes GP test driver, Sam Bird.
Gonzales was testing for Lotus. He is 9th, just ahead of Stefano Coletti and Dani Clos, both recent winners in GP2. The Spanish driver was running for HRT and was well ahead of the two Virgin cars. Charles Pic, who drove this afternoon, made a good impression by setting a time three-tenths quicker than his teammate for the day, Quaife-Hobbs, in similar conditions.
Tomorrow, the tests will continue with 4 French drivers (Vergne, Bianchi, Pic, Berthon). To find out which drivers will participate in this second day of testing, check the F1 private test program.
Results of Abu Dhabi Private Tests – Day 1:
| No | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Vergne | Red Bull Renault | 1:40.011 | 83 | |
2 | Bianchi | Ferrari | 1:40.960 | +0.949 | 85 |
3 | Wickens | Lotus Renault GP | 1:42.217 | +2.206 | 78 |
4 | Leimer | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:42.331 | +2.320 | 67 |
5 | Paffett | McLaren | 1:42.912 | +2.901 | 41 |
6 | Chilton | Force India-Mercedes | 1:43.016 | +3.005 | 81 |
7 | Bottas | Williams-Cosworth | 1:43.118 | +3.107 | 71 |
8 | Turvey | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:43.502 | +3.491 | 35 |
9 | Bird | Mercedes GP | 1:43.548 | +3.537 | 51 |
10 | Gonzales | Lotus-Renault | 1:44.022 | +4.011 | 87 |
11 | Coletti | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:45.278 | +5.267 | 87 |
12 | Clos | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.329 | +5.318 | 68 |
13 | Pic | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:46.930 | +6.919 | 30 |
14 | Quaife-Hobbs | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:47.292 | +7.281 | 32 |
