Russell concludes Abu Dhabi post-season test on top

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George Russell clocked in with the fastest lap at the end of the second and final day of testing in Abu Dhabi, the Briton embracing his testing opportunity with Mercedes.

Russell transferred from Williams to the Silver Arrows squad on Wednesday and enjoyed a productive day of work that put him at the top of the timesheet with 130 laps and a best time of 1m37.204s, an effort achieved on a set of Pirelli's softest C5 2020 tyres.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc ended the day second fastest, a few tenths adrift from Russell but the Monegasque's afternoon was shortened following an off at Turn 14, the Ferrari clouting the barriers.

Abu Dhabi post-season test: Day 2 in pictures

While damage wasn't terminal, the Scuderia decided to call it a day on its final test of 2019.

Racing Point's Lance Stroll was the third driver to break the 1m37s barrier, while Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly was the day's marathon man, the Frenchman achieving a lap count of 146.

Carlos Sainz retired McLaren's MCL34 from active duty with the fifth fastest lap.

Esteban Ocon put 113 laps under his belt during his second day of running with Renault, the F1 returnee ending Pirelli's test P6, ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon who totaled 139 laps around Yas Marina.

Pietro Fittipaldi was entrusted with Haas' VF19 one final time, the young Brazilian ramping up his speed late in the day to set the eight fastest time of the day, edging Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi.

Williams pair Nicholas Latifi and apprentice Roy Nissany closed out the field, respectively in 10th and 11th position, with the former taking over from the latter in the afternoon segment of the session.

Here's a run-down of the day's times and all the times across the two days combined.

Post-season test Day 2

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Compound	Laps
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1:37.204s	C5*	145
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:37.401s	C5	103
3	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	1:37.999s	C5*	132
4	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:38.166s	C5*	146
5	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	1:38.729s	C5*	112
6	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:38.950s	(C4)	128
7	Alexander Albon	Red Bull	1:39.181s	(C4)	139
8	Pietro Fittipaldi	Haas	1:39.682s	C5	135
9	Antonio Giovinazzi	Williams	1:39.811s	C5*	115
10	Nicholas Latifi	Alfa Romeo	1:40.188s	(C4)*	107
11	Roy Nissany	Williams	1:43.892s	(C4)*	38

* denotes 2020 compound

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Post-season test - Overall

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Compound	Laps	Day
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:37.124s	(C4)	138	1
2	George Russell	Mercedes	1:37.204s	C5*	145	2
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:37.401s	C5	103	2
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:37.991s	C5*	136	1
5	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	1:37.999s	C5*	132	2
6	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:38.166s	C5*	146	2
7	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:38.183s	C5*	72	1
8	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	1:38.434s	C5*	120	1
9	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	1:38.729s	C5*	112	2
10	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:38.950s	(C4)	205	2
11	Alexander Albon	Red Bull	1:39.181s	(C4)	139	2
12	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:39.526s	C5*	146	1
13	Pietro Fittipaldi	Haas	1:39.682s	C5	135	2
14	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:39.741s	C5*	125	1
15	Antonio Giovinazzi	Williams	1:39.811s	C5*	115	2
16	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:39.926s	(C3)*	153	1
17	Nicholas Latifi	Alfa Romeo	1:40.188s	(C4)*	107	2
18	George Russell	Williams	1:40.368s	C5*	87	1
19	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1:40.903s	(C4)	93	1
20	Sean Gelael	Toro Rosso	1:41.640s	(C4)*	67	1
21	Roy Nissany	Williams	1:43.892s	(C4)*	79	2

* denotes 2020 compound

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.