Alonso ends Pirelli test on top

Fernando Alonso was the man to beat as the second and final day of the Pirelli test reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi on Saturday

The Spaniard ventured to the top of the timesheets during the morning session with a 1:40.529, which proved to unbeatable. Alonso also amassed the most laps, 105, which is the equivalant of two race distances at the Yas Marina circuit.

Michael Schumacher put in a late charge to take second place with just 15 minutes remaining in the session. The Mercedes GP driver finished 0.156s adrift of Alonso.

Schumacher's rise saw Sebastian Vettel drop to third place, as like Alonso he failed to better his time from the morning. Vettel, the new F1 World Champ, completed just 66 laps.

Red Bull's head of race engineering Ian Morgan said: "It's been interesting to work with different tyres here and it was good to have the opportunity to get information using a car we know well - the RB6 - before starting to work with the new car next year.

"Overall we have done everything we planned to and we're looking forward to working with Pirelli in the future.

"It's sad that this is the last day of running for the RB6 - it's a car that we have enjoyed a great deal of success with this year - but we're looking forward to 2011."

Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth place ahead of Robert Kubica, Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey.

Paul di Resta, who was responsible for the first red flag when he broke down an hour before lunch, completed the top eight.

The only other stoppage on Saturday belonged to Pastor Maldonado, who was in action for Hispania Racing. He spun and stalled during the final hour of running.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.529 105 laps
02. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.685 74 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:40.825 66 laps
04. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:41.294 100 laps
05. Robert Kubica Renault 1:41.614 91 laps
06. Gary Paffett McLaren 1:41.622 46 laps
07. Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:41.740 30 laps
08. Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.869 35 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:42.110 43 laps
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:42.145 97 laps
11. Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1:42.416 46 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:42.777 46 laps
13. Jarno Trulli Lotus 1:44.521 83 laps
14. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1:44.768 65 laps
15. Timo Glock Virgin 1:44.783 82 laps

Source: Planet-F1