The 2025 Formula 1 competitive season may be over, but track activity is not: all 20 cars will be in action in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Each team will have one mule car driven by one or both race drivers, featuring Pirelli’s new range of rubber for the 2026 season, with slightly smaller and narrower tyres.
Even the tyres’ construction will be significantly different due to F1’s new technical regulations. When Pirelli asked all F1 teams to submit their predicted downforce levels for the end of 2026, there was much disparity between their simulations.
“It was more difficult for teams to estimate the performance of their 2026 cars at the end of the season,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola explained. “But we needed those simulations because we needed to design a product that is lasting for one year. If they just give us an idea of the car performance at the start of the season, and if we don’t know what the rate of development will be, then it’s difficult for us.”
Pirelli has therefore developed a broad spectrum of compounds, in case the real-world downforce levels turn out to be higher or lower than predicted by the teams.
The mule cars are 2025-spec machinery that has been modified to drop down closer to next year’s much lower downforce levels, though it cannot be fully accurate, partly because the 2026 cars will feature active aerodynamics.
“We have discussed some limitations with the teams, based on those first tests,” Isola added. “For example, we decided to avoid overloading the tyres on the straights. We were testing with a speed limit at 290km/h or 300km/h, because clearly they will have a lot less downforce on the straights next year. So we agreed on some methodologies for testing with the teams. Thanks to these methodologies it was possible to have feedback from the mule cars that was a little bit more coherent, more close.”
Valtteri Bottas, Mercdes, Mexico Pirelli Test
Photo by: Pirelli
The test won’t change the 2026 compounds in any case, as the tyres have already been homologated for next season; it will simply help Pirelli choose the compounds for next year.
The Italian manufacturer has brought all compounds to Yas Marina Circuit except for the hardest dry-weather tyre, the C1, and the full-wet.
Meanwhile, the other 10 cars will be driven by rookies as part of the traditional end-of-season young drivers’ test. Only competitors with two grand prix starts or fewer are allowed to take part.
Which race drivers are skipping the test?
A number of 2025 race drivers will be skipping Tuesday’s test.
This includes outgoing Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda as well as his team-mate Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell, with those teams giving all the track time to youngsters Isack Hadjar and Andrea Kimi Antonelli respectively. Verstappen said he was “very happy” to miss out.
Alpine will field only Pierre Gasly, with Franco Colapinto missing out.
Stoffel Vandoorne will be the only test driver handling a mule car, with neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll in action for Aston Martin – which is no surprise as far as the Spanish veteran is concerned, as he was looking forward to not driving the AMR25 any longer.
Which rookies will be in action?
Many teams will field the same rookie as they did in Free Practice 1.
F2 frontrunners Dino Beganovic, Luke Browning and Jak Crawford will drive for the Ferrari, Williams and Aston Martin squads they are linked to.
Another F2 driver will be in action with his parent outfit, Kush Maini at Alpine; the Enstone-based outfit will again loan out Paul Aron to Sauber.
Now racing in IMSA with Cadillac, Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti will drive the Silver Arrow, while Toyota WEC driver and Haas reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will drive the VF-25.
Ryo Hirakawa, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Red Bull will entrust its protege Ayumu Iwasa with the RB21 after the Japanese racer won the Super Formula championship. 2025 IndyCar runner-up and long-time McLaren driver Pato O’Ward will handle the title-winning F1 car.
Most importantly, Arvid Lindblad will gain important experience ahead of his graduation to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls in 2026.
Entry list for 2025 F1 Abu Dhabi post-season test
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– The Autosport.com Team
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