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F1 Abu Dhabi tyre test: Stoffel Vandoorne fastest for McLaren

McLaren ended its troubled Formula 1 season with the fastest time in Pirelli's Abu Dhabi tyre test, set by GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne

The Belgian completed 99 laps in the last outing for the McLaren-Honda MP4-30, setting a best time of 1m44.103s, 0.353 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn was one of nine 2015 race drivers in action during the 12-hour test, as Pirelli looks to bring a tyre performance 'cliff' back to F1 next year.

Pirelli trialled "several different potential variations" of the new ultra-soft compound along with new front and rear constructions of other compounds.

Teams were banned from trying new parts.

"We had one shot when it came to testing tyres for next season, and we can be satisfied by what we've achieved in this test, even if we have to fully analyse the data," Pirelli's Paul Hembery said.

"We've tested different versions of the new ultra-soft compound for 2016, which was one of the targets for this session.

"The ultra-soft's target for 2016 is to introduce a compound softer than the super-soft and mainly designed as aggressive choice for street circuits: with better performance than the latest version of the super-soft tyre and faster degradation, in order to allow the teams to take a more aggressive approach to race strategy.

"Whether this will produce more pit stops, or any difference in strategies, it's too early to say for now.

"But it seems we are heading in the right direction: the ultra-soft is expected to offer more possibilities for certain races."

Marcus Ericsson set the third-fastest time for Sauber, ahead of 2016 Lotus driver Jolyon Palmer and Raikkonen's Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Both Red Bull and Toro Rosso race drivers also ran, while new Force India development driver Alfonso Celis turned his first laps in a Formula 1 car and Manor gave GP2 driver Jordan King his first F1 mileage.

Pirelli F1 test day times:

1.   Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren       1m44.103s     99
2.   Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari       1m44.456s     56
3.   Marcus Ericsson     Sauber        1m44.480s     50
4.   Jolyon Palmer       Lotus         1m44.568s     90
5.   Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari       1m44.940s     56
6.   Pascal Wehrlein     Mercedes      1m45.605s    107 
7.   Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull      1m45.805s     57
8.   Max Verstappen      Toro Rosso    1m45.849s     54
9.   Nico Hulkenberg     Force India   1m45.852s     71
10.  Valtteri Bottas     Williams      1m45.940s    103
11.  Daniil Kvyat        Red Bull      1m46.309s     48
12.  Carlos Sainz Jr     Toro Rosso    1m46.995s     56
13.  Adderly Fong        Sauber        1m48.439s     57
14.  Alfonso Celis Jr    Force India   1m48.545s     65
15.  Rio Haryanto        Manor         1m49.593s     56
16.  Jordan King         Manor         1m49.661s     59

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