Mercedes quickest of mule cars as Crawford tops Abu Dhabi F1 test

Two days after the conclusion of the 2025 season, F1 teams switched all focus to 2026’s new era. At Yas Marina Circuit, the traditional post-season test had a dual purpose this time.

Each team took to the track with one mule car to test Pirelli’s new 2026 tyres. The mule cars are still ground-effect machinery, but have been modified to mimic next year’s downforce levels – mainly by changing the wing levels (Monza style) and ride height. The other 10 cars were allocated to rookies in the young drivers’ test.

Max Verstappen and George Russell were “fortunately” allowed to skip the post-season test, to use the Dutchman’s own words. Instead, Red Bull put Isack Hadjar in the mule car to give him an early feel for the 2026 rubber, with Ayumu Iwasa serving as its rookie. Next year’s F1 debutant Arvid Lindblad got his chance with sister squad Racing Bulls.

At McLaren and Ferrari, all regular drivers were present, each completing half a day of running. Andrea Kimi Antonelli handled the full Tuesday for Mercedes – the team that attracted the most attention in the pitlane once the light went green.

Mercedes tested active aerodynamics on its front wing for the first time, offering a preview of what’s to come in 2026. The Silver Arrow featured a prototype that had been approved by the FIA, allowing Antonelli’s front wing to switch into a low-downforce and low-drag mode along the straights, exactly as will happen next year.

The differences between the mule cars and the rookie cars – which, in addition to running more downforce, were still on 2025 tyres – meant that the young drivers locked out the fastest times. Luke Browning set the pace in the morning with a 1m23.920s in his Williams. That target time stood until the sun had almost set in Abu Dhabi and temperatures dropped.

Aston Martin junior Jak Crawford took full advantage of the cooler conditions, clocking a 1m23.766s to go to the top. The American beat Alpine’s Paul Aron, who stepped into the Sauber for this occasion, and Browning. Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti and Iwasa rounded out the top five.

Jak Crawford, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Antonelli followed in sixth place as the fastest mule-car driver. With a best lap of 1m25.170s, he was almost one-and-a-half seconds slower than Crawford. The Italian was also nearly a second quicker than the next mule-car driver: Oscar Piastri in P10.

Because Antonelli ran with active aerodynamics, he did not have to adhere to the 300km/h straightline speed limit imposed by Pirelli as the loads on the tyres will be different on the straights next year. Antonelli was also the most productive driver of the day, completing 157 laps.

The test ran without significant issues apart from a crash by Ryo Hirakawa. His incident at Turn 1 caused a red flag and damage to the rear wing, although the Japanese driver was able to return to the track soon after. Esteban Ocon completed only four laps in the afternoon due to apparent technical issues at Haas.

2025 Abu Dhabi post-season test results

Test 1

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	J. Crawford Aston Martin Racing	35		Aston Martin	Mercedes	119	1'23.766			226.960
2	P. Aron Sauber	97		Sauber	Ferrari	126	+0.081 1'23.847	0.081		226.741
3	L. Browning Williams	46		Williams	Mercedes	129	+0.154 1'23.920	0.073		226.544
4	F. Vesti Mercedes	72		Mercedes	Mercedes	145	+0.802 1'24.568	0.648		224.808
5	A. Iwasa Red Bull Racing	37		Red Bull	Red Bull	121	+1.159 1'24.925	0.357		223.863
6	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	157	+1.404 1'25.170	0.245		223.219
7	P. O'Ward McLaren	89		McLaren	Mercedes	127	+1.652 1'25.418	0.248		222.571
8	R. Hirakawa Haas F1 Team	50		Haas	Ferrari	121	+1.697 1'25.463	0.045		222.454
9	D. Beganovic Ferrari	38		Ferrari	Ferrari	122	+1.954 1'25.720	0.257		221.787
10	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	85	+2.333 1'26.099	0.379		220.810
11	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	73	+2.372 1'26.138	0.039		220.710
12	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	71	+2.376 1'26.142	0.004		220.700
13	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	92	+2.523 1'26.289	0.147		220.324
14	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	75	+2.651 1'26.417	0.128		219.998
15	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	76	+2.688 1'26.454	0.037		219.904
16	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	141	+2.739 1'26.505	0.051		219.774
17	A. Lindblad RB	41		RB	Honda	139	+2.753 1'26.519	0.014		219.739
18	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	78	+3.001 1'26.767	0.248		219.110
19	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	76	+3.238 1'27.004	0.237		218.514
20	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	144	+3.667 1'27.433	0.429		217.441
21	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	111	+3.749 1'27.515	0.082		217.238
22	A. Maini Alpine	62		Alpine	Renault	128	+3.778 1'27.544	0.029		217.166
23	S. Vandoorne Aston Martin Racing	34		Aston Martin	Mercedes	108	+3.977 1'27.743	0.199		216.673
24	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	80	+4.061 1'27.827	0.084		216.466
25	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	4	+7.641 1'31.407	3.580		207.988
View full results