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

OVERVIEW

• Day 3 of Yas Marina post-season testing
• Final three hours of post-season testing; Dunne fastest in the morning.
• MP Motorsport's Oliver Goethe fastest on previous two days of testing
• Several new drivers such as 2025 F3 Champion Rafael Câmara, Colton Herta, Mari Boya, Roman Bilinski, and Nicolás Varrone start life in Formula 2 this week
• Follow the live timing here

SEE YOU ALL SOON

What a test we have had and what a season it has been. You will not have to wait too long to see us again. Round 1 of the 2026 campaign is Melbourne from March 6-8.

Until then, stay tuned to our website and socials for all the reactions to this test, the 2025 season, and also look out for everything 2026 coming your way. See you all soon!

CHEQUERED FLAG

That is a wrap up on 2025!

IMPROVEMENTS TO REPORT

Less than five minutes to go and some teams have decided to go for a couple of flying laps. One of those is Rodin, with Dunne having gone up to P2, just 0.083s off Goethe. Stenshorne is just behind his teammate in third.

HERTA AND MIYATA

Heading into the final moments, the two Hitech TGR drivers Colton Herta and Ritomo Miyata have been the busiest, the former having completed 59 laps and the latter 58.

For the team, this test would have been about getting their new drivers as comfortable as possible before next season, and all the laps they have done this week will certainly have helped towards doing that.

10 MINUTES TO GO

There was a brief interruption with Montoya having stopped on the back straight. A quick Red Flag and now we are back underway, with the majority of cars now out on track completing their programs.

THE LAST 20

So there are just under 20 minutes left in the season. There are a few cars out on track, and while some are still pounding in the laps, others are working on their starts.

In a Championship where the margins are so tight, these laps can be extremely valuable to the teams and drivers for next season.

FINAL 2025 LAPS

So we have just over one hour left of running and the teams are definitely making the most of their track time.

Different drivers are on different plans which means there is a bit of traffic here and there, as you would expect during a normal race. But the laps are getting done.

MONTOYA IMPROVES

Montoya has now moved up to second, just ahead of his teammate Boya.

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS AFTERNOON

As Fittipaldi said, race runs. Those are usually the focus for the teams in the final afternoon session. So far though, only a handful of drivers have set representative lap times, with Goethe leading the way on a 1:38.274.

FITTIPALDI ON HIS TEST SO FAR

"The test has been pretty positive. Keeping the car on track and just enjoying it and having fun. I'm also learning a lot with the team, they are doing a great job teaching me about the procedures, and everything that is new to me. So just improving step-by-step. This afternoon we have a few race runs to do, so a lot of learning and lots of fun."

Emerson Fittipaldi Jr, AIX Racing

GREEN LIGHT

Back outside for the afternoon. Three more hours of testing to go.

CHEQUERED FLAG

That is the final morning session done and dusted. Dunne ends up on top ahead of Maini and Villagómez. But it is a fairly close field, with the top 19 drivers covered by just one second.

The drivers have just one hour of lunch today before the afternoon session. So we will see you back here at 13:00 local time for another three hours of running.

WHAT IS GOING ON

Mainly race runs at the moment. We have also seen Hitech, Campos and Invicta do a few pitstop practices with their drivers. There might not be many more headline times today, but the work is still going.

GREEN LIGHT

Car and driver back in the pitlane and we are back underway.

RED FLAG

Duerksen has stopped at Turn 10.

A FEW WORDS FROM RARA

"It's nice, it's going well. Happy with the progress and how the team and myself are working, so pretty pleased."

Rafael Villagómez, Van Amersfoort Racing

GREEN LIGHT

We are back underway!

RED FLAG

Oliver Goethe has stopped at Turn 6.

A NEW LEADER

It is very tight at the top. We have just seen some more Qualifying runs and Dunne has gone quickest on a 1:37.153, beating Maini by just 0.010s.

THE GAP REDUCES

Villagómez's time is holding up quite well, but the gap is reducing. At first Boya brought the lead down to under a tenth, but Câmara has just gone up to second, and is 0.062s off the Mexican driver's time.

TSOLOV CLIMBS UP

Tsolov now rises to P2, 0.166s down on Villagómez. His teammate Noel León is in fourth.

MORE IMPROVEMENTS

The entire field is on Supersofts. Some new, and some not so new. Villagómez though is flying once again and improves to a 1:37.300, just over four-tenths ahead of Bennett in P2.

Fittipaldi now goes to P2 for AIX Racing ahead of Inthraphuvasak.

SUPERSOFT TIME?

Those Medium tyre runs seems to be over as the drivers come back into the pitlane. Currently, the TRIDENT cars, Nikola Tsolov and Mari Boya are all out on track on their Supersofts.

VAR IN FORM

Villagómez has gone quickest with a 1:37.715, while Varrone is a few tenths back in P3. The VAR pairing are split by Shields in P2. That top three are on new Supersoft tyres.

Two purple sectors on the next lap for Villagómez see him go to a 1:37.502, extending his lead out front to over half a second.

GREEN LIGHT

Both car and driver are back in the pitlane, and we are back underway. A few tyre changes to report, MP and DAMS are now on new Mediums, while AIX have put on a set of Supersofts on Cian Shieds' car.

RED FLAG

Sebastián Montoya has stopped on track at Turn 14.

DUNNE BACK TO P1

Alex Dunne did say yesterday that he and Rodin were in a better window this test compared to the race weekend. He shows that by going quickest on a 1:38.759, just over a tenth quicker than Kush Maini in P2.

THE EARLY BENCHMARK

Rafael Villagómez and VAR have been doing well this week, and after the first lap, they sit at the top of the timesheets with a 1:39.387.

His teammate Nicolás Varrone has just gone fastest in the first sector though...

09:00 GREEN LIGHT

All 10 teams are out on track. Interestingly, the only teams not to send their drivers out on a set of new Medium tyres immediately were TRIDENT, DAMS and MP.

PLAN FOR THE LAST DAY

We are just under 15 minutes away from the start of today's action. Currently, we have a few drivers warming up, some speaking to their engineers and to other team members ahead of jumping into their cars.

Every team has at least one set of Supersofts left, so expect some Qualifying runs today. We will also see some race simulations, pitstop and race start practices. So it will be a very busy day here in Abu Dhabi.

WELCOME BACK

Good day all and welcome back to the Yas Marina Circuit where we are all set for the final day of not only post-season testing, but of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 action.