Kevin Magnussen has ended the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test fastest for McLaren, after setting a 01:42.651 towards the end of the morning period, only several hundredths quicker than the Red Bull of Antonio Felix da Costa. McLaren’s regular test driver Gary Paffett finished 3rd, nearly a whole second off the leading duo.
For the afternoon session, Gary Paffett took over driving duties at McLaren from Kevin Magnussen, but was unable to challenge the Dane’s superlative pace from the morning session. The Briton could only manage 3rd fastest, behind his McLaren counterpart and the Red Bull of GP3 star Antonio Felix da Costa. The Sauber of Robin Frijns was 4th fastest, with Nicolas Prost 5th for Lotus.
The bottom two was composed of Luiz Razia (Toro Rosso) and Giedo van der Garde (Caterham), with the former driver causing the only red flag delay of the day towards the end of the afternoon session. However, Luiz Razia was able to return to the pits under his own steam, as the GP2 driver aims to impress in his second Young Driver Test outing of the year.
There will be several changes to the driving line-up for the second day of testing around the Yas Marina circuit, with Edoardo Mortara set to replace Nicolas Prost at Lotus, Esteban Gutierrez to replace Robin Frijns at Sauber and Johnny Cecotto jr. to replace Luiz Razia at Toro Rosso. Antonio Felix da Costa will continue his work with Red Bull for the second day, before Dutchman Robin Frijns gets behind the wheel for the third and final on Thursday.
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| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren MP4-27 | 1:42.651 | 40 |
| 2 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Red Bull RB8 | 1:42.717 | 79 |
| 3 | Gary Paffett | McLaren MP4-27 | 1:43.407 | 44 |
| 4 | Robin Frijns | Sauber C31 | 1:43.775 | 78 |
| 5 | Nicolas Prost | Lotus E20 | 1:44.194 | 55 |
| 6 | Luiz Razia | Toro Rosso STR7 | 1:44.691 | 67 |
| 7 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham CT01 | 1:45.936 | 57 |