Red Bull junior driver Pierre Gasly finished day one of pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi top of the time-sheets, setting a time of 1m 48.897 in the afternoon session.
The DAMS driver, who topped all three days of the post-season test with DAMS last year, picked up where he left off and ended the session just ahead of Arthur Pic (Campos Racing).
Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne (ART), who finished the morning session down in 23rd place, topped the time-sheets early on, dipping just below the 1m50s. Gasly however was quick to beat his time, posting a 1m 49.089.
Julian Leal caused a red flag when he stopped at turn 17 and when the session resumed with 30 minutes left Jordan King (Racing Engineering) went top.
Gasly once again though was able to go even quicker with ten minutes to go, he was briefly knocked off top spot by Pic but Gasly responded instantly to end the day with the fastest time.
Gasly and Pic were followed by Trident team-mates Raffaele Marciello and Rene Binder, who moved up the time-sheets in the closing moments of the session.
King finished the session 5th just ahead of ex Sauber F1 test driver Sergey Sirotkin (Rapax), New Zealander Mitch Evans (Russian Time) and Rio Haryanto (Campos Racing).
Morning session pace setter Alexander Rossi (Racing Engineering) ended the afternoon session in 9th, 0.577s behind Gasly. Alex Lynn (DAMS), finished just behind to round out the top 10.
AFTERNOON TIMES:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Pierre Gasly DAMS 1m48.897s – 23
2 Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1m48.955s 0.058s 18
3 Raffaele Marciello Trident 1m49.252s 0.355s 14
4 Rene Binder Trident 1m49.294s 0.397s 21
5 Jordan King Racing Engineering 1m49.303s 0.406s 21
6 Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 1m49.379s 0.482s 20
7 Mitchell Evans RUSSIAN TIME 1m49.393s 0.496s 21
8 Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 1m49.456s 0.559s 24
9 Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 1m49.474s 0.577s 22
10 Alex Lynn DAMS 1m49.480s 0.583s 24
11 Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1m49.579s 0.682s 23
12 Norman Nato Arden International 1m49.682s 0.785s 22
13 Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 1m49.771s 0.874s 16
14 Daniel de Jong MP Motorsport 1m49.865s 0.968s 18
15 Andre Negrao Arden International 1m49.916s 1.019s 18
16 Marco Sorensen Carlin 1m49.960s 1.063s 24
17 Nathanael Berthon Lazarus 1m50.163s 1.266s 17
18 Julian Leal Carlin 1m50.307s 1.410s 4
19 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1m50.674s 1.777s 22
20 Vittorio Ghirelli MP Motorsport 1m50.680s 1.783s 19
21 Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1m50.929s 2.032s 25
22 Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1m51.004s 2.107s 22
23 Robert Visoiu Rapax 1m51.069s 2.172s 23
24 Sergio Canamasas Hilmer Motorsport 1m51.178s 2.281s 24
25 Zoel Amberg Lazarus 1m52.651s 3.754s 14
