Jean-Eric Vergne goes quickest in the morning in Abu Dhabi young driver test

The Frenchman, who tested for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Abu Dhabi last year, was having his first experience of testing a Red Bull.

He went to the top of the times mid-morning, ending up fastest with a mark of 1m40.707s.

Ferrari tester Jules Bianchi, who like Vergne will run on all three days, was second fastest, almost two seconds off the pace as Ferrari concentrated on aerodynamic test work.

He was almost nine tenths faster than Oliver Turvey, returning to the cockpit for McLaren. Gary Paffett will take over in the afternoon.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, on his first experience of F1 machinery outside of straightline testing, was fourth fastest, just over three seconds off the pace. His Williams was equipped with a 2012-specification exhaust.

Fabio Leimer, on his maiden F1 test for Sauber, was sixth fastest ahead of Renault's Robert Wickens and Lotus returnee Rodolfo Gonzalez.

Also making their full F1 debuts this morning were Max Chilton (Force India), Stefano Coletti (Toro Rosso) and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, who will hand his Virgin over to GP2 race-winner Charles Pic for this afternoon.

Morning times:

Pos  Driver               Team                  Time      Laps
 1.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Red Bull-Renault      1m40.707s  33
 2.  Jules Bianchi        Ferrari               1m42.632s  34
 3.  Oliver Turvey        McLaren-Mercedes      1m43.502s  35
 4.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Cosworth     1m43.816s  47
 5.  Fabio Leimer         Sauber-Ferrari        1m44.354s  34
 6.  Robert Wickens       Renault               1m44.579s  29
 7.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Lotus-Renault         1m45.026s  44
 8.  Sam Bird             Mercedes GP           1m45.564s  12
 9.  Max Chilton          Force India-Mercedes  1m45.714s  42
10.  Dani Clos            HRT-Cosworth          1m46.922s  39
11.  Stefano Coletti      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m47.008s  42
12.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs  Virgin-Cosworth       1m47.292s  32

All Timing Unofficial