Racing action may be done for the 2024 season, but an important day of post-season F1 testing is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

We will see some drivers move teams ahead of their 2025 switches, next year’s rookies get a taste of current Formula 1 machinery, as well as young drivers getting the opportunity to showcase their skills behind the wheel.

F1 testing: What is the purpose of Abu Dhabi post-season running?

Formula 1’s tyre suppliers, Pirelli, will be looking to gather as much data as possible from this day of testing in order to inform their 2025 compounds – so 10 of the drivers taking part will be on track under the moniker for tyre testing specifically.

These potential 2025 tyres will be monitored by Pirelli to see how they can be adjusted or improved ahead of next season, while for the drivers, it will be an opportunity to gather any last bits of data they can on track before heading into the winter break.

With stable regulations, anything feedback they gain on track in Abu Dhabi can likely be transferred into developing next season’s cars, so any opportunity to gather more laps will be valuable.

Alongside that, any drivers moving teams who have been permitted to switch early, such as Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, will be spending the day alongside their new colleagues to get to know them a little better – easing their transition ahead of the new season.

What about the young driver test?

For a driver to qualify for this section, they don’t necessarily have to be ‘young’ per se, but they must not have started more than two Grands Prix to take part.

Teams can use one driver for the whole day or split the day up, with Aston Martin opting to split the day with two of their young talents in Felipe Drugovich and Jak Crawford, while the likes of Mercedes and Sauber are taking the opportunity to integrate their rookie arrivals for 2025 in Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto.

30-year-old endurance star Ryo Hirakawa is taking part for Haas under this bracket, having made his free practice debut with McLaren on Friday.

Which drivers will be changing cockpits in Abu Dhabi?

As mentioned, Carlos Sainz has been allowed to move to Williams after his final race with Ferrari, Esteban Ocon ended his Alpine career a race early in order to be available for tyre testing with Haas, and Nico Hulkenberg will be making the switch back to Sauber.

Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda will have the opportunity to test the Red Bull RB20, in what he acknowledged will be his first time in a non-AlphaTauri/VCARB since his arrival in Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton will not be making an early move to Ferrari, however, with he and Mercedes having already confirmed there will be farewell events in his honour this week as he travels around their various bases before heading over to Maranello in the new year.

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Abu Dhabi post-season F1 test line-ups by team

Alpine

Tyre test: Jack Doohan
Young driver test: Paul Aron

Aston Martin

Tyre test: Lance Stroll
Young driver test: Jak Crawford, Felipe Drugovich

Ferrari

Tyre test: Charles Leclerc
Young driver test: Antonio Fuoco, Arthur Leclerc

Haas

Tyre test: Esteban Ocon
Young driver test: Ryo Hirakawa

McLaren

Tyre test: Oscar Piastri
Young driver test: Patricio O’Ward

Mercedes

Tyre test: George Russell
Young driver test: Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Red Bull

Tyre test: Yuki Tsunoda
Young driver test: Isack Hadjar

Sauber

Tyre test: Nico Hulkenberg
Young driver test: Gabriel Bortoleto

VCARB

Tyre test: Liam Lawson
Young driver test: Ayumu Iwasa

Williams

Tyre test: Carlos Sainz
Young driver test: Luke Browning

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