Pin fastest of all on final day of Qatar testing

Doriane Pin ended the final day of in-season testing on top, going quickest in the last session of running around the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.

In the morning, the honours went to Abbi Pulling, whose 1:56.769 narrowly edged her ahead of Pin by 0.054s with Hamda Al Qubaisi a further tenth behind in third.

The margins were even tighter in the afternoon with 0.049s separating the top three of Pin, Hamda Al Qubaisi and Pulling.

MORNING

Pin was the first to venture out of the pits at the green light, with the Mercedes driver’s initial exploration clocking in at 2:02.639.

Times quickly chopped and changed inside the opening 10 minutes with Pin and PREMA Racing teammate Weug exchanging fastest laps, with Pin improving to a 1:57.498 by the end of her first Qualifying simulation run, 0.038s ahead of the Dutch driver.

After a brief stay in the pits, the field rolled out for their next set of push laps. Pin reasserted herself in the top spot, breaking into the 1:56s. A subsequent tour of the Qatari track saw her go three tenths clear, completing a lap of 1:56.823.

Weug was able to shorten the gap down to 0.156s before making her way back to her garage, whilst Pulling capitalised on a quiet second hour. The only car on track at one point, the Alpine driver tightened the battle out front, slicing the gap down to 0.073s.

Not content with second, Pulling pushed on. Lowering the benchmark to a 1:56.769, she slipped ahead of Pin by five hundredths, with Weug sitting in third.

At the start of the final hour, Hamda Al Qubaisi moved inside the top three, before gravel on track on the exit of Turn 15 triggered an appearance from the Red Flag. There was little movement in the timing sheets and Pulling’s best effort remained unchallenged to the chequered flag ahead of Pin and the Red Bull Racing driver.

Weug ended with the fourth-fastest time ahead of Chloe Chambers, who got the most mileage on the board with 41 laps. Lia Block claimed seventh, followed by Nerea Martí, Bianca Bustamante and Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann, who rounded out the top 10 in the #19 car.

AFTERNOON

Once again, Pin was the first out of the box to set the early benchmark at 1:57.985, steadily improving by 0.195s by the end of her third consecutive lap. Hamda Al Qubaisi was the next driver to go fastest, lowering the time to beat to a 1:57.458.

Pin briefly went quicker, before Hamda Al Qubaisi reclaimed the top spot by breaking into the 1:56s. The Red Bull Racing driver’s 1:56.964 placed her over a tenth ahead of Weug in the #64 Ferrari car, with Pulling 0.2s off the leading pace.

Martí was the biggest mover, slipping into fifth behind Pin, as the order remained mostly unchanged throughout the second hour

The timing sheets lit up once more for the last 60 minutes of track time. Pulling was the next driver to quickest on 1:56.807, but she was demoted to second as Hamda Al Qubaisi went back up into P1. Her 1:56.762 eclipsed the Alpine driver by 0.027s.

Two further push laps promoted Pulling back up to the top, lowering her personal best to a 1:56.676. However, her hold wouldn’t last long as Pin’s 1:56.628 would be enough to seal the fastest lap across the three days by only a thousandth to Hamda Al Qubaisi.

Pulling rounded out the top three ahead of Chambers. Weug had to settle for the seventh-fastest time followed by Hausmann, Bustamante, Martí and Block.

This brings in-season testing in Qatar to a close, with the drivers and teams having under a fortnight to reflect on what they’ve learnt before they return to the track for the penultimate round on November 29 – December 1.