Haas end 2021 on top as Shwartzman goes fastest in final test

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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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 numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLaps
150Robert ShwartzmanHaas1’25.348130
24Lando NorrisMcLaren1’25.8090.461134
35Sebastian VettelAston Martin1’26.3791.031134
463George RussellMercedes1’26.4041.05682
510Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri1’26.4511.103149
655Carlos Sainz JnrFerrari1’26.7061.358151
714Fernando AlonsoAlpine1’26.9401.592148
824Guanyu ZhouAlfa Romeo1’27.8502.502150
911Sergio PerezRed Bull1’27.9912.643118
1051Pietro FittipaldiHaas1’28.6223.274123

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2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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23 comments on “Haas end 2021 on top as Shwartzman goes fastest in final test”

  1. Print this headline out and pin it to the wall, cause that’s something you’ll never, ever, read again.

    1. 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.

      1. Shwartzman was indeed the only driver not in a mule car, there are no specs for the mule cars.

        1. 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?

          1. @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.

          2. 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.

        2. It’s not even clear which tires the mule cars use.
          Pirelli is the director and keeps the lid closed.

  2. YAY! Finally, a highlight at the end of the season!

  3. If all the other cars are mules, which animal is the Williams?

    1. @bullfrog None. Williams didn’t do any running today.

  4. So he was quicker than Mazepin’s qualifying time then?

    1. 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…..

      1. 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

    2. Don’t forget about the tyres, maybe c5

  5. All the other cars are mules.

    The Haas is a donkey.

    (I’ll get my coat!)

    1. @sonnycrockett Careful. You could be labeled by some as an ass :-)

      1. 🤣🤣🤣

    2. lol +10

  6. I’d think that Mazepin would be in the car as he needs as much seat time as he can get.

    1. He tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the grand prix.

  7. Some serious shifts put in there from some drivers having just finished a race weekend. 150 laps each from Gasly, Sainz and Alonso!

    1. 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.

  8. Wow, what a condescending headline…2.5+ seconds off the 2021 pole and you classify them as “fastest” and “on top”?

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