25 Drivers Use Mix Of 2025 Cars And 2026 Mule Chassis In Season-closing F1 Test

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2025 pre-season test

A mixture of 2025-specification Formula 1 cars and ‘mule’ chassis intended to mimic the new rules for 2026 shared the track on the final day of testing.

F1 teams divided their running between regular drivers in 2026 test hacks and young drivers in current cars. Five members of the latter group set the fastest times, headed by Jak Crawford for Aston Martin.

The 2026 mule cars fitted with the outgoing Drag Reduction System were limited to a maximum speed of 300kph. Those using next year’s ‘Straight Line Mode’ were not speed-limited and were able to lower their wings in designated SLM activation zones around the Yas Marina circuit.

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli was quickest of those in the 2026 development cars. He also covered the most laps of anyone over the nine hours of running. Antonelli completed 157 tours of the track, more than two-and-a-half 58-lap grand prix distances.

New world champion Lando Norris was among those in action, sporting the number four for the last time before he switches to the champion’s number one next year. He shared McLaren’s 2026 mule car with team mate Oscar Piastri.

The drivers ran Pirelli’s definitive range of new, smaller tyres for the 2026 season. “By using the same mule cars as during the development tests, with the same speed limits, teams were easily able to compare the data captured in Yas Marina with that from the individual test days over the last few months,” said Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola.

“For our engineers, this test was fundamental to confirm the performance gaps between the compounds and the degradation levels, which has been the focus of our work throughout the year. Analysing the new tyres, which have a smaller footprint against the surface, has also allowed us to check their exposure to graining and overheating: two effects that can potentially increase due to the smaller surface area.”

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2025 end-of-season test times

Pos.	Car number	Driver	Team	Model	Best time	Gap	Tyres
1	35	Jak Crawford*	Aston Martin	AMR25	1’23.766		C5
2	97	Paul Aron*	Sauber	C45	1’23.847	0.081	C5
3	46	Luke Browning*	Williams	FW47	1’23.920	0.154	C5
4	72	Frederik Vesti*	Mercedes	W16	1’24.568	0.802	C5
5	37	Ayumu Iwasa*	Red Bull	RB21	1’24.925	1.159	C5
6	12	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	W16	1’25.170	1.404	C5
7	89	Pato O’Ward*	McLaren	MCL39	1’25.418	1.652	C5
8	50	Ryo Hirakawa*	Haas	VF-25	1’25.463	1.697	C5
9	38	Dino Beganovic*	Ferrari	SF-25	1’25.720	1.954	C5
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	MCL39	1’26.099	2.333	C5
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	SF-25	1’26.138	2.372	C5
12	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	MCL39	1’26.142	2.376	C5
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	FW47	1’26.289	2.523	C4
14	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-25	1’26.417	2.651	C5
15	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Williams	FW47	1’26.454	2.688	C5
16	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	02	1’26.505	2.739	C5
17	41	Arvid Lindblad*	Racing Bulls	02	1’26.519	2.753	C4
18	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	C45	1’26.767	3.001	C5
19	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	C45	1’27.004	3.238	C4
20	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	A525	1’27.433	3.667	C5
21	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	RB21	1’27.515	3.749	C5
22	62	Kush Maini*	Alpine	A525	1’27.544	3.778	C5
23	34	Stoffel Vandoorne	Aston Martin	AMR25	1’27.743	3.977	C4
24	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas	VF-25	1’27.827	4.061	C4
25	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas	VF-25	1’31.407	7.641	C2