Invited by Renault Sport Technologies and the Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, made the most of the opportunity of a day of testing in F1 like all previous Formula Renault 3.5 Series champions have in the past. At the wheel of the RB10 at Abu Dhabi, the Spaniard made a strong impression in setting the fifth best time on Tuesday before handing over to Daniel Riccardo, who also competed in the World Series by Renault on his way to F1.

Victorious on two occasions this year in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Will Stevens made a promising F1 debut this weekend and was back in the Caterham CT05 powered by the Energy F1 2014 of Renault Sport F1 for the two days.

In addition to the two hopefuls, other past standouts in the World Series by Renault were in action at Abu Dhabi: Valtteri Bottas with Williams and Stoffel Vandoorne, with McLaren, who also offered Matt Parry his first run in an F1 car last month, as well as Esteban Ocon and Charles Pic, in the Lotus Renault E22.

Carlos Sainz: “What a day! I have enjoyed every single lap of the 100 I did today. I’d like to say a huge thanks to Renault Sport Technologies for this huge opportunity. It was an incredible day, a day that I’ve been thinking about since I started the Formula Renault 3.5 Series season, knowing that this was the prize. So it was always in my mind and to finally make it happen was an incredible feeling. It felt really good to be honest. I had a reference from the test at Silverstone last year and I could build up little by little, as it was a long day with an extensive programme. The morning was all about data gathering but in the afternoon I was able to push a bit more, so it was fun!”

Andy Damerum, Race Engineering Co-ordinator: “Carlos got through 100 laps, which is great for a rookie. His feedback is excellent and I think he has improved again over the past year. He tested for us at Silverstone last year and since then he’s been in our simulator, but it’s always a very different prospect on track. Today, he handled that really well with a lot of tyres to play with today and testing the 2015 prototype tyres and test items on the car was very valuable. We had no major issues and we got through a lot of kilometres.”

Jean-Pascal Dauce, Competition Director, Renault Sport Technologies: “Once again, the drivers who have competed in the World Series by Renault have shown great professionalism in Formula 1 cars. A special mention for Carlos Sainz, whose commitment, seriousness and velocity was equal to what he has shown throughout the season in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The test awarded to the champion of our premier category is one of the aspects that we hold dearly in our driver development program towards F1. Our champions can thus prove themselves and confirm that they are ready to take on the challenges. Once again, they have amazed us!”