AS IT HAPPENED: Follow the action from Day 1 of post-season testing at Yas Marina

OVERVIEW

• Day 1 of Yas Marina Post-Season Testing
• Oliver Goethe fastest in the morning session ahead of Joshua Duerksen and Alexander Dunne
• Several new drivers such as 2025 F3 Champion Rafael Câmara, Colton Herta, Mari Boya, Roman Bilinski, Nicolás Varrone and many others start life in Formula 2 this week.
• A number of returning drivers like Oliver Goethe, Dino Beganovic, Joshua Duerksen, Sebastián Montoya and several others will be looking to build on 2025.
• Follow the live timing from the test here.

COME BACK FOR MORE TOMORROW

That wraps up today's action, but come back tomorrow for the second day of post-season testing, which is set to start at 09:00 local time. See you then!

FAST END TO DAY 1

That was a very fast end to the day, with a few teams deciding to put on the Supersofts. At the end, it's Goethe on top ahead of Câmara, Duerksen, Minì and Boya.

CHEQUERED FLAG

BOYA INTO THE TOP FIVE

Mari Boya also had the Supersofts bolted on to his PREMA Racing car. The Spaniard has gone up to fifth with a 1:37.705.

GOETHE RETURNS TO THE TOP

Having been fastest this morning, Goethe has returned to the top this afternoon after his latest run on the Supersoft tyre. A 1:37.203 is enough to put him in P1 by just 0.066s to Câmara. But will he stay there?

BACK IN P1

Câmara has now gone 0.021s quicker than Duerksen to go to P1. Goethe, also on Supersofts, has gone to third, ahead of his teammate Minì.

NEW TYRES TO END THE DAY

We are not only seeing new Supersofts out on track. Herta for Hitech and both ART Grand Prix drivers are out on new Mediums.

DUERKSEN BACK ON TOP

The Invicta duo have also gone out on new Supersofts. Duerksen went quickest with 1:37.290. Câmara completed his lap and ended up just 0.083s behind his teammate.

FASTEST TIME OF THE DAY

A couple of drivers have now put on the Supersoft tyre. One of those is Noel León, and he has gone fastest on a 1:37.819.

INVICTA 1-2

Duerksen has improved once again and this time goes up to P2 with a 1:38.554. He closes the gap to his teammate, Câmara, to 0.129s.

MORE CHANGES IN THE TOP FIVE

Duerksen and Rafael Villagómez have both improved on their most recent push laps, and have gone up to fourth and fifth respectively.

THE PLAN OF ACTION

If you were hoping for some Supersoft tyre runs today, there may be some bad news on the way. The teams will most likely be doing them over the next two days when conditions are at their best. As of now, it's push-cool push-cool. But you never know.

ART CLIMB UP THE LADDER

Kush Maini has just gone up to second for ART Grand Prix, 0.177s down on Câmara. The French team will be happy with their efforts so far this session, with Inthraphuvasak in fifth.

A CHANGE AT THE TOP

Câmara had just left the pitlane on brand new Mediums, and he has used those to go to the top on a 1:38.425. An impressive attempt that puts him 0.244s ahead of Dunne, who also improved on his earlier effort.

RED FLAG

Ritomo Miyata briefly stopped on track at Turn 5, but all is well, both driver and car are back in the pitlane in good shape, and the session is back underway.

PRACTICE STARTS

There are a several drivers who are currently doing laps of the circuit, but we are seeing quite a few, especially the rookies, working on hitting their marks in the pitstops and also on their race starts. While speed will be a huge focus this week, the teams and the drivers will want to master all the processes before next season gets underway.

RODIN DEJA VU

Just like the morning session, it is Rodin that lead the way early on in the afternoon. Dunne's 1:39.005 currently leads the way, ahead of his teammate Stenshorne by 0.234s

COLTON HERTA ON THE FIRST THREE HOURS

"It was all about getting comfortable, and I am still pretty far from being super comfortable in the car. It's good first steps, it's such an important three days for us, it's important to maximise everything that we do here. It's fun to be here, fun to be in a car in the offseason, and I am looking forward to the next two days." - Colton Herta, Hitech TGR.

THE F3 CHAMPION'S THOUGHTS

"First time in the F2 car, the morning session, we went straight away on new tyres because we don't have any carry overs. Was a good first feeling in the car, put some laps down, just getting more used to things, every lap I was getting more comfortable with everything.

"I am also experiencing new things, how things work, but it was a nice session. Now we will focus on the afternoon, some performance runs, it's a nice day in the F2 car." - Rafael Câmara, Invicta Racing.

GOETHE's THOUGHTS ON THE MORNING

We caught up with a few drivers during the break, one of them being Ollie Goethe. Here is what he had to say about the morning session.

"Very happy. The last few rounds have been good and the aim of this test is to continue working, to continue improving and to carry this momentum into next season, starting strong this morning."

15:00 GREEN LIGHT

Lunches have been eaten, debriefs have been debriefed and we are back underway for the afternoon session.

WHAT NEXT

For the next two hours, the teams and drivers will debrief and also get themselves some lunch, before the afternoon session gets underway at 15:00 local time. See you all then!

GOETHE FASTEST

Well, that morning session flew by quickly. At the end of it, Goethe ends up fastest on a 1:38.979, with Duerksen second and Dunne third, both 0.177s behind following the Rodin driver's late improvement.

CHEQUERED FLAG

THE MORE LAPS THE BETTER

While the leaderboard is its own story, the lap count is also always quite interesting. For a lot of drivers, like Câmara, Herta, León, Bilinski, Boya, and Fittipaldi, this is their first time in this F2 car. So the more laps they do, the more comfortable they will get, putting them in a stronger position by the time they get to Melbourne.

DUERKSEN CLOSES THE GAP

As we head into the final 30 minutes, the track is quite busy, as the drivers continue their hard work. Duerksen has set a new personal best time of 1:39.156. He stays in second, but has reduced the gap to Goethe to just 0.177s.

FINAL HOUR OF THE MORNING

We are now into the final hour of the morning. Noel León has just made his way into the top five, going to P4 for Campos. We are yet to see any of the teams use the Supersoft tyres to do some Qualifying runs. Time will tell as to whether they make an appearance this afternoon.

TSOLOV MOVES UP

Nikola Tsolov also had a good race weekend last time out in Yas Marina, finishing third in the Sprint Race. He is back in that same position now after his latest lap, 0.358s down on Goethe.

DUERKSEN CLOSES IN

We have reached the halfway point of the morning session, with Goethe leading the way for MP. But Joshua Duerksen, who is no stranger to doing well around here, having won the last two Feature Races, goes second, 0.332s behind for Invicta Racing.

BATTLE AT THE TOP

Here come MP Motorsport, as Goethe goes quickest on a 1:38.979, while his teammate Gabriele Minì is third behind Dunne.

FIRST HOUR UPDATE

We are coming to the end of the first hour of the day, and the track has actually been quite busy in the past few minutes. Dunne is still on top of the timings, but Inthraphuvasak did close to within 0.076s off him.

MORE IMPROVEMENTS

Dunne has improved to a 1:39.502, with Stenshorne just 0.052s behind. ART Grand Prix are also on the board, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak goes up to third on a 1:40.815, a few tenths ahead of teammate Kush Maini.

RODIN ON THE BOARD

Having said that, Rodin have started fast. Dunne has set the fastest time of a 1:40.180, with teammate Stenshorne 0.270s behind in P2.

PLAN FOR THE MORNING

Do not expect a lot of fast times early on, installation laps are usually the focus at this time. These help the teams make sure all their systems are in order. They also give the drivers, especially the new ones, an idea of if they are comfortable in the car before the real laps start.

10:00 GREEN LIGHT

The majority of the field head out on track, most on travel tyres doing installation laps, while the TRIDENT duo of Laurens van Hoepen and John Bennett are out on Mediums.

THE START OF 2026 PREPARATONS

These three days are essentially the start of the teams and drivers 2026 preparations, and you can read more about what to expect this week in our preview.

WELCOME BACK TO ABU DHABI

Good day all and welcome to back to the Yas Marina Circuit where the 2025 Formula 2 season continues with post-season testing