2025 F1 Post-Season Test Results As American Star Leads The Way And 2026 Preparations Begin

Jak Crawford topped the Formula 1 post-season test in Abu Dhabi as teams began preparations for 2026.

The American set a best time in the 2025 Aston Martin of 1:23.766s at the Yas Marina Circuit as two separate tests took place.

Rookie drivers circulated in 2025 machinery as is usual at the young driver test, while incumbent race drivers took to the track in 2026 mule cars, which are adapted '25 cars designed to mimic regulation changes for next season.

Crawford leads Young Driver Test

An important day of running for young drivers aiming to scale the single-seater ladder or bolster their understanding of the cars for development work with their respective teams, not much can be looked into, timing-wise.

But it was F2 star Crawford, taking to the cockpit of the Aston Martin AMR25 for the third time in two months, who set the best time of the day while clocking 119 laps [629km] across set-up tests and long-run simulations.

Alpine reserve Paul Aron was second, though in a Sauber, with Luke Browning third for Williams, like Crawford, having taken part in FP1 last Friday.

Frederik Vesti was fourth for Mercedes ahead of Ayumu Iwasa in the Red Bull, the Japanese driver having been at the wheel of a Racing Bull in FP1.

Patricio O'Ward was back in a McLaren and the first of those slower than a mule car, with Haas' Ryo Hirakawa seventh fastest of the YDT runners, despite an early incident.

Dino Beganovic was next fastest in the Ferrari, with 2026 Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad getting ready for his new gig with the ninth-quickest YDT time and Alpine's Kush Maini the last of the rookies.

F1 Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test results

Position / Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1. Jak Crawford / Aston Martin	1:23.766
2. Paul Aron / Sauber	+0.081
3. Luke Browning / Williams	+0.154
4. Frederik Vesti / Mercedes	+0.802
5. Ayumu Iwasa / Red Bull	+1.159
6. Patricio O'Ward / McLaren	+1.652
7. Ryo Hirakawa / Haas	+1.697
8. Dino Beganovic / Ferrari	+1.954
9. Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+2.753
10. Kush Maini / Alpine	+3.778

Mule cars take center stage

No fewer than 14 full-time F1 drivers ran mule cars, with some duties shared across the day, with Aston Martin test and development driver Stoffel Vandoorne joining in the fun in the absence of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

The cars ran prototypes of the new-for-2026 dynamic-aero front wings, the Mercedes demonstrating an example powered by actuators.

And Mercedes are running a special front wing system to replicate some of the 2026 changes with the new Pirelli tyres. All teams were allowed to come up with a system if they wanted - Ferrari also has one according to Pirelli #F1 pic.twitter.com/lSbJJMq08f
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) December 9, 2025

Mule cars were limited to 300km/h [186mph] in order to help balance the extra load created by the active aero, with Pirelli and the teams aiming to harvest data points to take into the winter break.

Again unrepresentative, the results below have been separated from the YDT but are gapped to Crawford's best effort.

F1 Abu Dhabi Post-Season Test results - Mule cars

Position / Driver / Team	Gap to P1 overall
1. Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	+1.404
2. Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+2.333
3. Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+2.372
4. Lando Norris / McLaren	+2.376
5. Alex Albon / Williams	+2.523
6. Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	+2.651
7. Carlos Sainz / Williams	+2.688
8. Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+2.739
9. Gabriel Bortoleto / Sauber	+3.001
10. Nico Hulkenberg / Sauber	+3.238
11. Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+3.667
12. Isack Hadjar / Red Bull	+3.749
13. Stoffel Vandoorne / Aston Martin	+3.977
14. Oliver Bearman / Haas	+4.061
15. Esteban Ocon / Haas	+7.641

The Latest Formula 1 News

Max Verstappen Hits Out At F1 Journalist Over Controversial George Russell Clash

McLaren CEO Zak Brown Issues Oscar Piastri Prediction

Why 2026 Is ‘Now or Never’ For Charles Leclerc And Ferrari’s F1 Title Hopes

Lando Norris Reveals "Regret" Over Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen Jibes