Vergne top again on final morning of Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi

Jean-Eric Vergne was again quickest for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi on the final morning of the Young Driver Test.

Vergne went much quicker than he had been on the previous two days, with his time of 1:38.917 over a second better than his best time from Tuesday's running. He was also comfortably over two seconds clear of the next fastest driver, with Jules Bianchi once again second in the Ferrari in a time of 1:41.347.

Oliver Turvey returned to the McLaren for the final day and was third quickest in 1:42.346, just edging out Max Chilton in the Force India. Chilton - back in the VJM04 after sitting out Wednesday's running - was 0.272s slower despite what the team described as a "technical issue" causing him to stop on track and bring out the red flag for a short period.

Alexander Rossi impressed on his first appearance of the week for Lotus as he set the fifth fastest time, just ahead of Sauber reserve Esteban Gutierrez who was nearly a second slower than his best time from day two.

Stefano Coletti was seventh having returned to the Toro Rosso for the morning session, improving on his best time from Tuesday by 0.4s. He will hand over to Kevin Ceccon - who ran on Wednesday - for the rest of the test. Mirkko Bortolotti made a cautious start in the Williams as he tests the FW33 as a reward for winning the F2 championship, setting the eighth best time just 0.2s ahead of Nathanael Berthon in the HRT and Charles Pic in the Virgin.

Jan Charouz switched to the Renault having run for HRT on Wednesday morning, and was 11th quickest, just ahead of Sam Bird who was running 2012-specification exhausts for Mercedes.

Morning times:

Pos  Driver               Team                   Time     
 1.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Red Bull-Renault       1m38.917s
 2.  Jules Bianchi        Ferrari                1m41.347s
 3.  Olivier Turvey       McLaren-Mercedes       1m42.346s
 4.  Max Chilton          Force India-Mercedes   1m42.618s
 5.  Alexander Rossi      Lotus-Renault          1m44.381s
 6.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari         1m44.531s
 7.  Stefano Coletti      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m44.545s
 8.  Mirko  Bortolotti    Williams-Cosworth      1m46.076s
 9.  Nathanael Berthon    HRT-Cosworth           1m46.299s
10.  Charles Pic          Virgin-Cosworth        1m46.348s
11.  Jan Charouz          HRT-Cosworth           1m47.159s
12.  Sam Bird             Mercedes GP            1m47.624s

All Timing Unofficial

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Vergne still on top after second day of Young Driver Test

Jean-Eric Vergne finished at the top of the timesheets for the second day in a row at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi, but failed to improve on the time he set in the Red Bull on Tuesday.

Vergne's best time of 1:40.118 was just over a tenth shy of his effort on day one and only 0.091s faster than Jules Bianchi in the Ferrari who set a 1:40.279 to go second. Gary Paffett was third fastest in the McLaren, albeit 1.568s off Vergne's pace.

Vergne set his fastest time in the morning after losing some track time with a sensor problem on the RB7. Bianchi set his best time in the afternoon session while he was working on a tyre-evaluation programme, having spent the morning analysing new concepts for next year's Ferrari.

Paffett, who shared the McLaren with Oliver Turvey on Tuesday but had it all to himself on Wednesday, stopped on track towards the end of the morning session, bringing out a red flag. The session was also stopped in the afternoon to clear some debris, before a final red flag in the final hour. A stray cat broke onto the circuit in the morning but was swiftly dealt with by the marshals, preventing the need for another stoppage.

Valtteri Bottas impressed with the fourth fastest time in the Williams - again running a 2012-spec exhaust - with a 1:42.367. The Finn thanked the team over the radio before rushing off to the airport to catch a flight to Macau where he is taking part in the famous Formula 3 race this weekend. A further 0.5s down the timesheets, Johnny Cecotto Jnr set the fifth fastest time in the Force India after taking over from Max Chilton who was in the car on Tuesday.

Esteban Gutierrez was another new face on Wednesday as he took command of the Sauber and set the sixth fastest time ahead of Sam Bird, who spent his second day at the wheel of the Mercedes. Kevin Korjus was eight fastest in the Renault, which was driven by Robert Wickens on Tuesday, ahead of Luiz Razia who got his first run in the Lotus. Kevin Ceccon rounded out the top ten in the Toro Rosso as Stefano Coletti watched on from the garage.

Jan Charouz was eleventh fastest in the HRT after sharing the day's running with Nathanael Berthon, who was 13th behind Charles Pic in the Virgin. Pic's test this week carries extra significance as he has been strongly linked to a race drive at Virgin next year.

Times;

Driver	Car	Time	Laps
1.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Red Bull RB7	1:40.188
2.	Jules Bianchi	Ferrari 150	1:40.279
3.	Gary Paffett	McLaren MP4-26	1:41.756
4.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams FW33	1:42.367
5.	Johnny Cecotto Jnr	Force India VMJ-04	1:42.837
6.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber C30	1:43.637
7.	Sam Bird	Mercedes W02	1:43.734
8.	Kevin Korjus	Renault R31	1:43.776
9.	Luiz Razia	Lotus T128	1:43.944
10.	Kevin Ceccon	Toro Rosso STR6	1:44.808
11.	Jan Charouz	HRT F111	1:46.644
12.	Charles Pic	Virgin MVR-02	1:46.698
13.	Nathanael Berthon	HRT F111	1:48.646

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Vergne top at the end of Young Driver Test day one

Jean-Eric Vergne impressed for Red Bull as he set the fastest time on the opening day of the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.

Vergne, who had already set the fastest time of the morning session, improved in the afternoon to set the headline time of a 1:40.011. Jules Bianchi was second for Ferrari with a 1:40.960 having spent much of the morning carrying out aerodynamic tests with large sensors on the car. Robert Wickens also showed good pace to set the third fastest time in the Renault, albeit 2.2s off the pace.

Fabio Leimer was a close fourth, with Gary Paffett fifth in the McLaren having taken over from Oliver Turvey for the afternoon session. Max Chilton managed 80 laps as he set the sixth quickest time in the Force India despite suffering with KERS issues, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas' Williams. Bottas lost time after lunch with a gearbox problem but still clocked up 71 laps throughout the day.

Mercedes was the least productive team, with Sam Bird only completing 12 laps in the morning as a transmission problem confined him to the garage, but he managed another 40 after lunch on his way to the ninth fastest time. Charles Pic beat Adrian Quaife-Hobbs' time by 0.3s having taken over his car at Virgin for the afternoon session.

Stefano Coletti, 11th quickest in the Toro Rosso, admitted it had been challenging getting used to the different characteristics of a Formula One car.

"Nothing I have driven so far in my career has come close to the feeling I got driving a Formula 1 car," Coletti said. "At first, I found it hard to adapt to the feel of the power steering through the wheel, especially in the high speed corners, but once I got used to it, I could start to enjoy the experience even more. It was interesting testing the new tyres and it meant I was fortunate to run with several new sets, which is not normally the case."

The times are notoriously difficult to read in to, however, as teams run development parts and test the 2012 tyres, with only the supersoft compound being supplied by Pirelli the same as has been used in races this season.

Times

	Driver	Car	Time	Laps
1.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Red Bull RB7	1:40.0011	82
2.	Jules Bianchi	Ferrari 150	1:40.960	85
3.	Robert Wickens	Renault R31	1:42.217	77
4.	Fabio Leimer	Sauber C30	1:42.331	67
5.	Gary Peffett	McLaren MP4-26	1:42.912	41
6.	Max Chilton	Force India VJM04	1:43.016	80
7.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams FW33	1:43.118	71
8.	Oliver Turvey	McLaren MP4-26	1:43.502	35
9.	Sam Bird	Mercedes W02	1:43.548	52
10.	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Lotus T128	1:44.022	87
11.	Stefano Coletti	Toro Rosso STR06	1:45.278	87
12.	Dani Clos	HRT F111	1:45.329	68
13.	Charles Pic	Virgin MVR-02	1:46.930	30
14.	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Virgin MVR-02	1:47.292	32

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