Vergne wraps up clean sweep in Abu Dhabi (Pictures)

Jack Sargeant On November - 17 - 2011

Jean-Eric Vergne, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi, 2011 - Photo © Red Bull/Getty Images

Red Bull’s Jean-Eric Vergne has made it a clean sweep of fastest times at the Young Driver’s Test in Abu Dhabi, setting a 1:38.917 to top the timesheets on the final day.

Mercedes GP’s Sam Bird showed his speed for the first time this week with a 2nd place with Mercedes using their 2012-spec exhaust in the morning. Bird finished ahead of Ferrari’s Jules Bianchi, with McLaren’s Oliver Turvey 4th. Turvey’s work was focused around helping McLaren conduct research into systems to be implemented in their 2012 car.

Force India’s Max Chilton was 5th, with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez 6th, ahead of the Williams of Mirko Bortolotti.

Kevin Ceccon was 8th for Toro Rosso, with a very impressive 9th for Team Lotus’ Alexander Rossi. Czech Jan Charouz was 10th for Renault after jumping from HRT.

Stefano Coletti had half a day in the STR6, managing 11th place in his time at the wheel. Frenchman Nathanael Berthon was 12th for HRT, with Virgin Racing duo Robert Wickens and Charles Pic 13th and 14th respectively.

1. Jean-Eric Vergne, Red Bull, 1:38.917, 46 laps
2. Sam Bird, Mercedes, 1:40.897, 104
3. Jules Bianchi, Ferrari, 1:41.347, 106
4. Oliver Turvey, McLaren, 1:41.513, 89
5. Max Chilton, Force India, 1:41.575, 79
6. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:42.049, 79
7. Mirko Bortolotti, Williams, 1:43.277, 74
8. Kevin Ceccon, Toro Rosso, 1:43.686, 35
9. Alexander Rossi, Lotus, 1:44.283, 74
10. Jan Charouz, Renault, 1:44.470, 82
11. Stefano Coletti, Toro Rosso, 1:44.545, 48
12. Nathanael Berthon, HRT, 1:45.839, 51
13. Robert Wickens, Virgin, 1:45.934, 34
14. Charles Pic, Virgin, 1:46.348, 49

Combined times - Collated times from the three days of testing

Key: T – Time set on Tuesday, W – Time set on Wednesday, No letter – time set on Thursday.

1. Jean-Eric Vergne, Red Bull, 1:38.917
2. Jules Bianchi, Ferrari, 1:40.279 W
3. Sam Bird, Mercedes, 1:40.897
4. Oliver Turvey, McLaren, 1:41.513
5. Max Chilton, Force India, 1:41.575
6. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:41.756 W
7. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:42.049
8. Robert Wickens, Renault, 1:42.217 T
9. Fabio Leimer, Sauber, 1:42.331 T
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:42.367secs W
11. Johnny Cecotto Jr, Force India, 1:42.873 W
12. Mirko Bortolotti, Williams, 1:43.277
13. Kevin Ceccon, Toro Rosso, 1:43.686
14. Kevin Korjus, Renault, 1:43.776 W
15. Luis Razia, Lotus, 1:43.944 W
16. Rodolfo Gonzalez, Lotus, 1:44.022 T
17. Alexander Rossi, Lotus, 1:44.283
18. Jan Charouz, Renault, 1:44.470
19. Stefano Coletti, Toro Rosso, 1:44.545
20. Dani Clos, HRT, 1:45.329 T
21. Nathanael Berthon, HRT, 1:45.839
22. Robert Wickens, Virgin, 1:45.934
23. Charles Pic, Virgin, 1:46.348
24. Jan Charouz, HRT, 1:46.644
25. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, Virgin, 1:47.292 T