Lando Norris returned to the track for the first time as F1 world champion on the final day of the 2025 post-season Abu Dhabi test, closing out a standout year at Yas Marina Circuit. Two days after sealing the title with a third-place finish in the season finale, Norris ran his championship-winning MCL39 wearing a special gold crash helmet.
Although he confirmed he will use the number one next season, Norris kept his usual number four on the car’s nosecone at Abu Dhabi; the switch to #1 is set to appear from pre-season testing at the end of January. Norris ran in the morning and completed 71 laps before team-mate Oscar Piastri took over in the afternoon. “It was great to get back out in our championship-winning car for one last time this year,” Norris said. “We worked through the Pirelli testing programme well, giving them valuable feedback to help set us up as well as possible for 2026. Thank you to everyone for their work this year, now it’s time for a rest before we go again.”
The single-day test required all 10 teams to use both of their race cars. One car had to be driven by an experienced driver for 2026 tyre development, while the other was reserved for a young driver with fewer than three grand prix starts. Fourteen current race drivers were in action, running modified 2025 mule cars to evaluate Pirelli’s 2026 tyres ahead of next year’s major rules overhaul affecting chassis, aerodynamics and power units.
Red Bull ran new drivers for 2026: Isack Hadjar drove the senior Red Bull car while British teen Arvid Lindblad sampled the Racing Bulls entry ahead of his rookie season. Ferrari split its tyre programme between Charles Leclerc in the morning and Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon. Williams (Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz), Haas (Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman) and Sauber (Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto) also used both race drivers, while Kimi Antonelli spent the day in a Mercedes mule car. Former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne did Pirelli duties for Aston Martin, and Jak Crawford returned to run their other car.
Most teams ran with a fixed speed limit of 300 kph (186 mph) to reduce downforce and gather data relevant to next season. Cars fitted with experimental versions of the 2026 “straight-line mode” — including Mercedes — were allowed to run without the speed cap, using a front-wing system to simulate active aerodynamics.
Antonelli topped the times among race drivers on the 2026 tyres, setting a best lap of 1:25.170 on the C5 compound in the final hour as the sun set. Piastri was second fastest, Hamilton third and Norris fourth. On 2025-spec tyres, Jak Crawford was the quickest rookie with a best lap of 1:23.766, followed by Sauber’s Paul Aron and Williams’ Luke Browning.