Robert Shwartzman was fastest of the 10 drivers who participated in the final day of testing at the Yas Marina circuit today, having switched from Ferrari to Haas.
As the young drivers test concluded yesterday, today’s running gave teams a further opportunity to evaluate Pirelli’s 18-inch tyres for the 2022 season. Today’s session involved a slightly different construction of tyre to those which had run the previous day, ranging through the usual five levels of hardness.Most teams opted not to run a young driver on the second day of testing, with the exception of Haas who again had Robert Shwartzman in their car. Having not opted to build a mule car for tyre testing, Williams were entirely absent from the Wednesday, after testing Logan Sargeant in their 2021 car yesterday.
Shwartzman was fastest, as drivers in mule cars ran Pirelli-specific programmes. Of the drivers running 2022 18-inch tyres, Lando Norris was fastest, the McLaren mule car narrowly leading George Russell’s Mercedes.
There was one red flag period during running, caused by Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin mule car stopping on track. Nonetheless Vettel ended the day fourth fastest.
Guanyu Zhou, the only rookie on the grid for 2022, switched from running Alfa Romeo’s 2021 car yesterday to taking over mule car duties from team mate Valtteri Bottas today. Pietro Fittipaldi also ran the Haas mule car, in place of Nikita Mazepin following his positive test for Covid-19.
| Pos. | Car number | Driver | Team | Model | Best time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 | Robert Shwartzman | Haas | 1’25.348 | 130 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1’25.809 | 0.461 | 134 | |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1’26.379 | 1.031 | 134 | |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’26.404 | 1.056 | 82 | |
| 5 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1’26.451 | 1.103 | 149 | |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’26.706 | 1.358 | 151 | |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1’26.940 | 1.592 | 148 | |
| 8 | 24 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1’27.850 | 2.502 | 150 | |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1’27.991 | 2.643 | 118 | |
| 10 | 51 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | 1’28.622 | 3.274 | 123 |
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
15th December 2021, 14:37
Print this headline out and pin it to the wall, cause that’s something you’ll never, ever, read again.
Bob
15th December 2021, 15:10
It’s not hard to be fastest in a field of one :)
That’s assuming he was the only one in a 2021 car, while everyone else was in the 2019-spec “mule” cars with the 2022 tyres. But I could be wrong; the article is hard to parse. It’ll at least become clearer once we see the list of drivers and specs.
Hazel Southwell (@hazelsouthwell)
15th December 2021, 15:14
Shwartzman was indeed the only driver not in a mule car, there are no specs for the mule cars.
Gavin Campbell
15th December 2021, 15:33
I’m confused I thought (and the article states) that the 2021 Young Drivers test was yesterday and I thought that today was day 2 of the new mule cars.
So why was Shwartzman in a current spec car with old tyres?
Jere (@jerejj)
15th December 2021, 16:03
@Gavin Campbell Simultaneous running on both days.
Shwartzman isn’t a regular driver, nor will he be next season, which explains him using 13-inches.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
15th December 2021, 16:58
Haas didn’t run their 2021 car yesterday, just Mick Schumacher in their mule car, electing to do their young driver test today with Robert Shwartzman.
erikje
15th December 2021, 19:18
It’s not even clear which tires the mule cars use.
Pirelli is the director and keeps the lid closed.
Ruben
15th December 2021, 15:14
YAY! Finally, a highlight at the end of the season!
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
15th December 2021, 15:42
If all the other cars are mules, which animal is the Williams?
Jere (@jerejj)
15th December 2021, 16:04
@bullfrog None. Williams didn’t do any running today.
Matt
15th December 2021, 16:20
So he was quicker than Mazepin’s qualifying time then?
rowmk9
15th December 2021, 16:59
Mazepin did a 1:25.685 for qualifying according to the F1 website, so yeah, Shwartzman was quicker with his 1:25.348. Sure, it’s not a direct comparison cause of time of day, temps/fuel load etc, but it’s likely Shwartzman’s time was a low fuel quali run, like Mazepins run was. Any which way you cut it, not comfortable reading for Nikita who’s had a whole year in the car so ought to know how to extract the maximum out of it. Maybe it was Schumacher’s’ chassis…..
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
15th December 2021, 22:16
It’s pretty clear Schwartzman might be more talented of the two anyway. He was 4th last year in F2, ahead of the more experienced Mazepin. He came in 2nd this year. That seems to suggest he’s both a quicker learner with a higher ceiling
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th December 2021, 19:34
Don’t forget about the tyres, maybe c5
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
15th December 2021, 17:00
All the other cars are mules.
The Haas is a donkey.
(I’ll get my coat!)
James Neutron (@phillyspur)
15th December 2021, 17:35
@sonnycrockett Careful. You could be labeled by some as an ass :-)
Scotty (@rockonscotty)
15th December 2021, 21:11
🤣🤣🤣
Hiland (@flyingferrarim)
16th December 2021, 19:58
lol +10
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
15th December 2021, 19:00
I’d think that Mazepin would be in the car as he needs as much seat time as he can get.
Hazel Southwell (@hazelsouthwell)
15th December 2021, 21:46
He tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the grand prix.
John H (@john-h)
15th December 2021, 19:06
Some serious shifts put in there from some drivers having just finished a race weekend. 150 laps each from Gasly, Sainz and Alonso!
Hiland (@flyingferrarim)
16th December 2021, 20:00
Even drivers from day prior put in some serious laps as well. Hopefully Pirelli can take that data and make a good tire for 2022.
joshj81
15th December 2021, 19:20
Wow, what a condescending headline…2.5+ seconds off the 2021 pole and you classify them as “fastest” and “on top”?