Lando Norris unveiled a golden helmet at the one-day post-season tyre and young driver Abu Dhabi Test. The new world champion was wearing a special gold crash helmet for the occasion – returned to his title-winning MCL39 at the Yas Marina Circuit as all teams hit the track with two cars.
Norris was still running with his usual career-number four on his car’s nosecone, with the number one that is reserved for the reigning world champion, which Norris confirmed on Monday he will use in 2026, set to feature from pre-season testing at the end of January.
Norris was one of the fifteen race drivers in action testing 2026 Pirelli tyres in 2025 mule cars ahead of F1’s major rules overhaul for next year which features significant changes to chassis and aerodynamics, in addition to revised power units. The Englishman drove the morning session before handing over to teammate Oscar Piastri.
The test at Yas Marina Circuit is a tyre and young driver test, meaning that one car has to be driven by an experienced driver for 2026 tyre duties, while the other one with fewer than three grands prix starts in designated young-driver running. Though most teams split the tyre test between race drivers.
While the regulars were lower down on the time sheet, it was Aston Martin’s Jak Crawford who topped the times, going a tenth and a half faster than Paul Aron’s time set in the AM session for Sauber. Mercedes reserve Fred Vesti was fourth ahead of Iwasa in the Red Bull
Kimi Antonelli was the highest placed driver on the Pirelli programme, going sixth fastest overall, he was almost one-and-a-half seconds slower than Crawford. The Mercedes driver was a second faster than Oscar Piastri in tenth. George Russell elected to miss the test.
It was Mercedes that caught the eyes with a prototype front wing to simulate the new 2026 rules. This is designed to simulate next year’s cars and are running low downforce setups to try and mimic next year’s cars.
DRS has been in F1 since 2011, giving drivers additional straight-line speed in qualifying and races as an overtaking tool. Active aero will replace this, meaning the front and rear wings will be opened on every straight.
McLaren IndyCar runner-up Pato O’Ward was seventh going four and a half tenths ahead of the Rio Hirakawa who had a similar advantage over Dino Beganovic, while Piastri completed the top ten.
Isack Hadjar made his Red Bull debut with his 2026 replacement, and Arvid Lindbald made his debut with Racing Bulls. Like McLaren, Ferrari split their tyre testing between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with the latter having promised to “completely unplug from the matrix” over F1’s short winter once his post-season duties are completed following his disappointing first campaign in red.
Also on track were Mercedes George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, to split 2026 work along with Williams (Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz), Haas (Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman) and Sauber (Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto).
Hamilton spilt the McLaren’s he missed out on the top ten by half a tenth as he went four thousandths faster than world champion Norris. Albon was over a tenth faster than Charles Leclerc who split the Williams, after going three and a half hundredths ahead of former teammate Carlos Sainz.
Liam Lawson was just under a hundredth and a half ahead of incoming Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindbald. Sauber, which will become Audi by the Barcelona Test, split their tyre test between race driver, with Gabriel Bortoleto three seconds off the outright pace and nearly four hundredths ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
Pierre Gasly was nearly a tenth faster than Red Bull-bound Isack Hadjar, the Frenchman spilt the Alpine’s going three hundredths faster than Kush Maini. Aston Martin used reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne conducted Pirelli, while the Haas drivers completed the field.
Ollie Bearman faster than Esteban Ocon, whose running was restricted to four laps.
