Nikita Mazepin finished the final post-season testing session of 2019 in first place, with the Russian impressing in Carlin machinery around the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The 20-year-old’s time of 1:50.473 in the morning was enough to put him top overall, ahead of Callum Ilott for UNI-Virtuosi and Louis Delétraz at Charouz Racing System.
The field were quick off the mark in the morning with all 20 cars feeding out onto the track at the green flag. It took Mazepin just 15 minutes to take the time to under 1m 51s, as the Russian bossed the start of the session.
Sitting in second was his Carlin teammate Yuki Tsunoda, with the rookie running nearly 0.5s slower ahead of the in-form Louis Delétraz. The Swiss ace improved upon his own time to move up to second before Callum Ilott ran even quicker to rise above him, just 0.029s slower than the Russian in P1.
The morning’s focus then shifted to long-runs, with 620 laps completed before the lunch break. As a result the top ten stayed relatively unaltered and at the chequered flag Mazepin remained ahead of Ilott and Delétraz. Ralph Boschung and Dan Ticktum completed the top five, followed by Robert Shwartzman, Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, Pedro Piquet and Mick Schumacher.
It was much of the same in the afternoon, with teams trying to make the most of the final session. Boschung was the initial pace setter ahead of BWT HWA RACELAB duo Artem Markelov and Giuliano Alesi. The pair leapfrogged the MP Motorsport tester on the hour mark, with Markelov touring 0.139s ahead of his new teammate.
Despite his high standing on the timesheets, it wasn’t an entirely smooth afternoon for Alesi as the Ferrari Academy Driver stopped on track and brought out a red flag. Ilott briefly took first when action resumed before fellow FDA driver Schumacher put in his first fast lap of the afternoon to move straight to the top of the order.
The German would retain the position at the chequered flag, as Ilott settled for second. Dan Ticktum snatched third, ahead of Markelov and Alesi. Tsunoda, Delétraz, Zhou, Niko Kari and Boschung completed the top ten.
Morning session
1 Nikita Mazepin Carlin 1:50.473 39
2 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi 1:50.502 32
3 Louis Delétraz Charouz Racing System 1:50.623 34
4 Ralph Boschung MP Motorsport 1:50.783 24
5 Dan Ticktum DAMS 1:50.916 31
6 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:51.085 30
7 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 1:51.118 41
8 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1:51.129 35
9 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System 1:51.158 34
10 Mick Schumacher PREMA Racing 1:51.171 30
11 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport 1:51.341 32
12 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:51.429 28
13 Niko Kari Campos Racing 1:51.467 45
14 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix 1:51.494 32
15 Sean Gelael DAMS 1:51.547 29
16 Artem Markelov BWT HWA RACELAB 1:51.780 22
17 Marino Sato Trident 1:51.899 38
18 Giuliano Alesi BWT HWA RACELAB 1:51.972 22
19 Guilherme Samaia Campos Racing 1:52.223 21
20 Roy Nissany Trident 1:53.057 21
Afternoon session
1 Mick Schumacher PREMA Racing 1:51.569 38
2 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi 1:51.657 13
3 Dan Ticktum DAMS 1:51.748 40
4 Artem Markelov BWT HWA RACELAB 1:52.060 42
5 Giuliano Alesi BWT HWA RACELAB 1:52.199 23
6 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 1:52.224 26
7 Louis Delétraz Charouz Racing System 1:52.412 38
8 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1:52.428 27
9 Niko Kari Campos Racing 1:52.510 26
10 Ralph Boschung MP Motorsport 1:52.525 24
11 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:52.734 35
12 Roy Nissany Trident 1:52.998 43
13 Marino Sato Trident 1:53.036 25
14 Sean Gelael DAMS 1:53.578 39
15 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport 1:53.686 28
16 Nikita Mazepin Carlin 1:56.290 20
17 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix 1:56.393 40
18 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:56.546 30
19 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System 1:57.055 54
20 Guilherme Samaia Campos Racing 1:57.061 39