Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test
Day 1 Results:
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:39.616 |
| 2 | Oliver Turvey | McLaren | 1:40.725 |
| 3 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Force India | 1:41.381 |
| 4 | Esteban Guiterrez | BMW Sauber | 1:41.432 |
| 5 | Dean Stoneman | Williams | 1:41.522 |
| 6 | Mikhail Aleshin | Renault | 1:42.073 |
| 7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:42.489 |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:42.736 |
| 9 | Sam Bird | Mercedes GP | 1:42.985 |
| 10 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:43.518 |
| 11 | Pastor Maldonado | HRT | 1:43.750 |
| 12 | Jules Bianchi | Ferrari | 1:43.894 |
| 13 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Lotus | 1:44.924 |
| 14 | Rio Haryanto | Virgin | 1:49.439 |
Day 2 Results:
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:38.102 |
| 2 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Renault | 1:38.802 |
| 3 | Sam Bird | Mercedes GP | 1:39.220 |
| 4 | Gary Paffett | McLaren | 1:39.760 |
| 5 | Jules Bianchi | Ferrari | 1:39.916 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | BMW Sauber | 1:40.543 |
| 7 | Paul Di Resta | Force India | 1:40.901 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1:40.944 |
| 9 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:40.974 |
| 10 | Yelmer Buurman | Force India | 1:41.178 |
| 11 | Davide Valsecchi | HRT | 1:43.013 |
| 12 | Luiz Razia | Virgin | 1:43.525 |
| 13 | Josef Kral | HRT | 1:44.143 |
| 14 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Lotus | 1:44.312 |
| 15 | Vladimir Arabadzhiev | Lotus | 1:45.723 |
The young drivers testing has concluded and to put it simply; Red Bull’s season has finished on a massive high. Daniel Ricciardo again posted the fastest time in the RB6 around the Yas Marina circuit. More data is coming through from the first day of testing and it puts a different light on yesterdays results. Oliver Turvey came second; it’s no surprise that the McLaren was fastest through the speed trap; it’s a testament to the driver’s skill that he was able to get that out of the car. Another surprise was the HRT reaching the heady heights of 315.7kph…did we see that from it during the season? It’s a good showing from Maldonado who will be driving for Williams next year; bringing a hefty lump of cash with him.
Speed trap times for day 1:
| Driver | Car | Fastest Speed (kph) |
| Oliver Turvey | McLaren | 317.5 |
| Pastor Maldonado | HRT | 315.7 |
| Antonio Felix da Costa | Force India | 315.7 |
| Dean Stoneman | Williams | 312.9 |
| Sam Bird | Mercedes | 312 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 312 |
| Rodolfo Gonzalez | Lotus | 311.1 |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 310.2 |
| Jules Bianchi | Ferrari | 309.3 |
| Paul di Resta | Force India | 309.3 |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 309.3 |
| Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 308.4 |
| Mikhail Aleshin | Renault | 307.5 |
| Rio Haryanto | Virgin | 299.8 |
It’ll be interesting to see where these guys end up in the coming years; you’ll hopefully hear their names mentioned through the next season, teams tend to bring them out on the first free practice on Fridays. Jerome d’Ambrosio made an appearance during the 2010 season; replacing Lucas di Grassi at Virgin on four occasions during the Friday practice (Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil).
There are two aims of the testing session; the most important one is to get some serious mileage on the clock for these future drivers; Maldonado completed over 100 laps in his HRT car, impressive considering the reliability issues the car had during the season. The other one is a tad more superficial…showing off the talent you are bringing up through the ranks. I’m sure Ricciardo will make an appearance at Red Bull (or Toro Rosso) in the future; Turvey might have a longer wait for a seat at McLaren as Hamilton and Button look set for the long haul. If Massa has another so-so season in 2011; I can see some space at Ferrari opening up, not necessarily for their test driver…but a space at the top means a shuffle down below. The bottom end of the table is where we are more likely to see some of these rookies come through. But someone could pull a Hamilton…
Only a matter of time!
Later rookies!
Rookie F1 