Jean-Eric Vergne finished top of the timesheets for third consecutive day in Abu Dhabi in his Red Bull-Renault, ending up with a time of 1m38.917s,nearly two seconds clear of his nearest challenger, Sam Bird in the Mercedes, who clocked a 1m40.897s, ahead of Jules Bianchi’s Ferrari (1m41.347s) and Oliver Turvey’s McLaren (1m41.513s).
Max Chilton was next in the Force India, lapping in 1m141.575s, ahead of Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), who clocked a 1m42.049s ahead of Mirko Bortolotti (Williams), 1m43.277s; Kevin Ceccon (Toro Rosso), 1m43.686s; Alexander Rossi (Lotus), 1m44.283s; Jan Charouz (HRT), 1m44.470s; Stefano Coletti (Toro Rosso), 1m44.545s; Nathanael Berthon (HRT), 1m45.839s; Robert Wickens (Virgin), 1m45.934s; and Charles Pic (Virgin), 1m46.348s.
joeblogsf1 
The only cars out of order are the Mercedes, driven by Sam Bird and the Toro Rosso, driven by Stefano Coletti. Sam is ahead whereas Stefano is behind.
Also I think it must be worrying for the current crop of rookies (and maybe the current crop of Toro Rossi drivers) that Vergne is so far ahead. Also Sam Bird extracting more out the car (or Bianchi and Turvey are getting enough) should worrying Force India drivers.
Maybe put Bird in for understudy at Mercedes for a year, move Di Resta to Mercedes at end of 2012 and put Bird in Di Restas vacant seat.
Like all other testing, its hard to put a lot of stock into the numbers. Who knows what each team’s plans were for the kids? Showcasing talents or just getting in some test mileage a la Merc with their 2012 exhaust work.
Vergne does look good though. On another note Pic didn’t exactly post any blazing times yet it seems he’s got a ride for ’12. Big wallet perhaps??
We know times reflect a mixture of car and driver. I wonder how much it these times are also a reflection of how easy the cars are to learn, i.e., we know the Red Bull is perhaps fastest, but might it also be easier to learn to drive fast? Same thing re: the porkers: they’re slow, but might it also also be harder to learn how to get the most out of them? So, how to read a driver’s time? How much is it ability to go fast vs. ability to learn the car quicker?
(I don’t know the answer to any of this, just wondering about it.)
Hi Joe,
Hoping you might be able to speculate on what you think will happen with the Red Bull Junior drivers next year? As an Australian I would be very disappointed if Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a Torro Rosso drive by having Jean-Eric Vergne leapfrog him. JEV is carrying a lot of momentum thanks to this test, whereas DR seems to have lost some attention by running at the back of the field – albeit very competitively against Liuzzi.
Is there any chance that both Beumi and Alguersuari will be shown the door in favour of a season long head-to-head with DR and JEV to see who gets Webber’s RBR seat in 2013? Or do Torro Rosso need the stability of keeping one of their current drivers? I think after 3 years (SB) and 2.5 years (JA) they’ve had a good period to show what they’re capable of.
Perhaps JA could go to HRT to fulfill their Spanish team identity, and SB could go to Lotus/Caterham as part of the RBR partnership. Trulli hasn’t been confirmed as a race driver for next year yet has he, just that he’s got a contract with the team?
Look forward to your thoughts as always.
Hi Joe,
Enjoy the blog immensely.
Wondering if you can answer a question re the young drivers test. I was intrigued to see Gary Paffett as doing 2 days in the McLaren. I thought he kind of stands out from the rest given he’s been McLarens regular test driver for a number of years.
Question is, is there a rule defining what drivers a team must run at these tests, beside them not being the teams 2 regular drivers? For example, could a team drop a Raikkonen or a Fisichella in?
I can see the development advantage McLaren (Or Ferrari with Bianchi, or Merc with Bird) could have by having someone with Paffetts experience in the car over say a Rossi. Just wondering how far the rule can be stretched.
Cheers