Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso ensured that the Italian team remained unbeaten at the season-ending two day Pirelli tyre test, emulating his team mate Felipe Massa to top the times on the final day of running in 2010.
For the last time in 2010, the F1 teams hit the track in anger in their second day of running on the new Italian tyres, which will become the standard rubber for F1 from the start of the 2011 season. Alonso was not only the fastest driver on the track, but also the busiest, putting in 105 laps of the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi as he ended the session with a best time of 1:40.529.
Oddly, though, he set the fastest time of the day in the morning session, failing to improve his performance throughout the afternoon despite putting in more laps.
Second overall was the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, the seven-time world champion giving the German team a boost on the Italian rubber after his team mate Nico Rosberg had warned that the new tyres had not eased the team's grip issues.
Schumacher set his quickest time just under 15 minutes from the end of the day's running, and overall he improved by around 1.5 seconds from his morning time, which had left him down in seventh.
His late lap put him ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, the younger German finishing three tenths of a second off the top of the times after losing time on track with another suspect puncture around midday.
Fourth was the Williams driver Rubens Barrichello, who also failed to top his morning time in the afternoon session. He nevertheless completed 100 laps of the track, and finished four tenths of a second ahead of Robert Kubica's Renault.
Sixth and seventh overall were the two McLaren test drivers, Gary Paffett returning to the car in the afternoon to beat his fellow tester Oliver Turvey by just over a tenth of a second.
Paul di Resta was eighth for Force India, after being allowed 35 laps in the car in the morning session but causing a brief red flag through a car failure, while Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber and Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso completed the top ten.
Outside the top ten came two half-day drivers, with Force India's Tonio Liuzzi and Sauber's new 2011 driver Sergio Perez finishing ahead of the three newbie teams.
Of those, Jarno Trulli was quickest for Lotus, ahead of Pastor Maldonado for HRT and Timo Glock for Virgin.
The teams will now enjoy the winter off before returning to action with the first day of 2011 pre-season testing on Febrtuary 1st in Valencia.
| Pirelli Tyre Test | ||||||
| Day 2 Times | Morning Session | Afternoon Session | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Laps | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso (Spa) | Ferrari | 1:40.529 | 47 | 1:41.000 | 58 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher (Ger) | Mercedes GP | 1:42.161 | 30 | 1:40.685 | 44 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel (Ger) | Red Bull - Renault | 1:40.825 | 28 | 1:41.000 | 38 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello (Bra) | Williams - Cosworth | 1:41.294 | 52 | 1:42.000 | 48 |
| 5 | Robert Kubica (Pol) | Renault | 1:42.178 | 47 | 1:41.614 | 44 |
| 6 | Gary Paffett (Gbr) | McLaren - Mercedes | n/a | n/a | 1:41.622 | 46 |
| 7 | Oliver Turvey (Gbr) | McLaren - Mercedes | 1:42.026 | 20 | 1:41.740 | 10 |
| 8 | Paul di Resta (Gbr) | Force India - Mercedes | 1:41.869 | 35 | n/a | n/a |
| 9 | Kamui Kobayashi (Jap) | Sauber - Ferrari | 1:42.110 | 43 | n/a | n/a |
| 10 | Sebastien Buemi (Swi) | Toro Rosso - Ferrari | 1:42.399 | 46 | 1:42.145 | 51 |
| 11 | Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) | Force India - Mercedes | n/a | n/a | 1:42.416 | 46 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez (Mex) | Sauber - Ferrari | n/a | n/a | 1:42.777 | 46 |
| 13 | Jarno Trulli (Ita) | Lotus - Cosworth | 1:44.839 | 44 | 1:44.521 | 39 |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado (Ven) | HRT - Cosworth | 1:45.516 | 27 | 1:44.768 | 38 |
| 15 | Timo GLock (Ger) | Virgin - Cosworth | 1:45.405 | 37 | 1:44.783 | 45 |
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