2017 Abu Dhabi Post-Season F1 Testing results Wednesday

Robert Kubica, Williams FW40 Mercedes, leaves the garage.

Fourteen drivers showed their talent on the second and final day of testing on Yas Marina circuit to also test the new Pirelli Hyper Soft tyres.

This is what the teams and drivers had to say about their experience today in Abu Dahbi:

Scuderia Ferrari

The second and final day of testing in Abu Dhabi ended at sunset. The purpose of the Pirelli test was to evaluate the new tyres that will be used in next year’s Formula 1 World Championship, including the new pink-banded Hypersofts.
Sebastian Vettel drove the SF70H for a final time today, running off 118 laps and completing all the planned programme, which included running the different tyre compounds over both performance laps and long distance runs.

Mercedes driver: Valtteri Bottas

It was a really interesting day, trying out the new Pirelli's and discovering the differences between this year’s and next year’s tyres. I could really feel the differences and it was nice to get the feel now rather than next year. We tested all kinds of compounds and learned a lot out of all of them. I myself learned a great deal about the driving style with these new tyres. Now I’m looking forward to get some holidays.

Red Bull Racing

With Daniel's work finished on Tuesday, Max took over driving duties on Wednesday and after a busy day the Dutchman ended up with 132 laps on the board with a best lap of 1m38.736s. That time, set on the hypersoft, put him third on the time-sheet.

Force India driver: Sergio Pérez

I think we achieved a lot this week. We’ve run on as many tyre compounds as we could and that’s given us a good idea of what to expect next year. It was a normal day in the car and a good way to end the year.

Force India driver: Esteban Ocon

Trying the 2018 tyre compounds was very useful and has helped our preparation for next season. We learnt loads about the tyres and, even though I didn’t get to test the new HyperSofts, I was able to do short and long runs on the other compounds I tried. The conditions on track weren’t perfect: it was much warmer and windier than during qualifying and the race, but it was still good enough to give us useful information.

McLaren driver: Stoffel Vandoorne

Today was generally a very good day – although it was a bit strange that I crashed in the same corner that Fernando did yesterday! Overall though, today has been very productive for me and the team, and it’s been really beneficial to be able to have a first feeling of the 2018 Pirelli compounds.

“We’ve done a lot of testing, completed some good mileage, and understood a lot about how the tyres behave. The past couple of days have now given us the tools to be able to analyse the data over the winter and have a good benchmark for next year.

“Now that we’ve reached the final day on track of the 2017 season, I’d like to say a big thanks to all my mechanics, engineers and the rest of the team – not only for working so hard on my car today – but for pushing hard throughout the whole year, despite the challenges. Every person in the team has put in a huge amount of effort and I hope they enjoy a well-deserved break with their family and friends. I’ll be back in the factory soon to work on preparation for next year, and I’m already looking forward to the start of the next chapter.

McLaren driver: Lando Norris

It’s been a really good day. I’m pretty tired after 118 laps, but it’s all been positive and it feels good to get as many laps as I did under my belt. We got through everything that we needed to and didn’t have any issues.

“It was my first time doing some proper long runs in the car, which has helped me get a better feeling inside the cockpit compared to the Hungary test, as well as learn more about the car and the tyres. The pace was pretty good as well.

“All in all, it’s given me really good experience and I feel very positive about how the day has gone. I’m happy, my engineers are happy, I’ve learned what I needed to learn, improved throughout the day and really enjoyed it. Now that my role as reserve driver has been confirmed for 2018, I’m looking forward to working with the team over the winter to help support them with the development of the new car in preparation for next year.

Robert Kubica

All eyes, though, were on Robert Kubica who was testing for Williams. The Pole put in a solid total of 100 laps in a trouble-free outing, posting a best lap of 1m41.296s to end up ninth quickest, though his time was done on the soft tyre. Kubica ran again on day two, using the hypersoft to record a best time of 1m39.485s that left him with the 11th fastest time across the two days.

Quickest Lap times final F1 testing 2017 Yas Marina circuit

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