Three Formula 1 drivers will have the chance to make an early start with their new teams for 2025 in the sole day of post-season testing tomorrow.
However Lewis Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari, will not be among them, as he has existing commitments with his current team. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said earlier this year he did not expect Hamilton would be able to participate in the tear.Outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jnr has been given permission to test for Williams. He made an early start with the team in a filming day today at the Yas Marina circuit.
Esteban Ocon is due to test for Haas tomorrow. He was released from Alpine, though the team told him he would have to miss the final round of the season, where his place was taken by Jack Doohan.
Nico Hulkenberg will also have the opportunity to make an early start with Sauber, who he last drove for in 2013.
Teams will each run two cars in the test, one to evaluate Pirelli’s rubber for 2025 and another to give an opportunity to a junior driver.
Mercedes intend to run Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the test. However he missed the two Formula 2 races last weekend due to illness and a spokesperson for the team told RaceFans his participation is yet to be confirmed.
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The top three Formula 2 drivers in this year’s championship will all participate in the test. Newly-crowned Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto will have his first test for Sauber, who he will race for next year. Paul Aron, third, will make his F1 test debut for Alpine.
Neither of Red Bull’s 2024 race drivers will participate in the test. Yuki Tsunoda will have his first test for the team while Liam Lawson carries out duties for RB. F2 runner-up Isack Hadjar, who drove Max Verstappen’s car in first practice on Friday, will have a day’s running in the RB20, while Ayumu Iwasa returns for RB.
Ferrari will share their junior driver car between Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Charles who appeared in practice last week, and long-time test driver Antonio Fuoco.
2024 post-season test line-up
| Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
|---|---|---|
| McLaren | Lando Norris / Oscar Piastri | Pato O’Ward |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc | Antonio Fuoco / Arthur Leclerc |
| Red Bull | Yuki Tsunoda | Isack Hadjar |
| Mercedes | George Russell | Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
| Aston Martin | Felipe Drugovich | Jak Crawford |
| Alpine | Jack Doohan | Paul Aron |
| Haas | Esteban Ocon | Ryo Hirakawa |
| RB | Liam Lawson | Ayumu Iwasa |
| Williams | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Luke Browning |
| Sauber | Nico Hulkenberg | Gabriel Bortoleto |
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Mark (@blueruck)
9th December 2024, 22:34
Glancing through the list – I hope we see an article on how Yuki does at Red Bull.
SPArtacus
10th December 2024, 4:42
IMO, Yuki is becoming a serious candidate for the seat. He went 6-0 against Lawson and 12-6 against DR in quali and other than Lawson’s first GP back he hasn’t had any encouraging races.
As for Hadjar, I pray that poor excuse for a human being doesn’t make the grid even though it seems inevitable. He’s like Santino Ferucci and Mazepin in one. A very unsavory personality. He must have a ton of cash behind him.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th December 2024, 6:41
SPArtacus Poor excuse for a human being is unnecessarily harsh towards him & to my knowledge, he isn’t a so-called pay driver, but just a typical a Red Bull-backed one.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
10th December 2024, 11:58
Yuki is as mid as it gets. Would have been dropped 3 seasons ago if not for Honda.
SPArtacus
10th December 2024, 4:48
I’m excited to see Paul Aaron getting some seat in the Alpine. I expect him to be much quicker than Doohan if they ever do a parallel run.
Also excited to see Ryo Hirawaka get seat time even if he isn’t being considered for anything. The reason they’re running Ryo is to advertise to Japanese karters. Honda got all the best karters because they had a ladder to Formula 1 and so Toyota was left with the dregs. So, that’s one of the major reasons they’ve gotten back into F1. To improve their driver stable.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th December 2024, 6:43
Making definitive conclusions about Aron relative to Doohan is premature & the aspect you mentioned most likely isn’t the only factor for running Ryo Hirakawa in the test.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th December 2024, 6:44
Hopefully, someday, Alpine’s sudden tone change & unusual treatment would come to light, as they were originally okay with Ocon driving for Haas in the post-season test while finishing the season normally as per usual with all teams regarding leaving drivers, so them being the only one to require early departure for the purpose is still baffling.
HW Small
10th December 2024, 12:05
Nothing baffling about it – Alpine saw an opportunity to give Doohan extra experience, and applied sufficient pressure to Ocon to make it happen. Ruthless yes, but not baffling.
The same can be said for Hamilton not driving for Ferrari – Mercedes are going from two strong drivers to one plus a rookie, so why give Hamilton/Ferrari an advantage? The reason may be ‘off circuit contractual stuff’ which perception wise is better than the ocon situation, but if the will was there I am sure things could have been shuffled.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th December 2024, 12:36
True about Alpine, although to be honest regarding Ferrari, Hamilton himself didn’t truly desire an early driving opportunity either.