Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly topped the first day of post-season GP2 testing at Yas Marina on Thursday.

The Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up set the pace in the cooler evening session, edging out 2014 star rookie Stoffel Vandoorne to take top spot.

McLaren junior Vandoorne, who tested the Formula 1 team’s Honda-powered car earlier in the week, was the pacesetter in the first session, being the first driver to dip under the 1m50s mark.

Gasly and Mitch Evans joined Vandoorne in the 1m49s before the end of the session, but the leading times tumbled when the cars took to the track again later in the day.

While Vandoorne initially continued to set the pace under the Abu Dhabi lights, Gasly beat his new benchmark three quarters of an hour into the second session.

Jordan King, Arthur Pic and Andre Negrao completed the top five, all setting a time within a tenth of a second of each other.

Evans – who also improved – ended the day sixth quickest, just ahead of Richie Stanaway and Rio Haryanto, driving for the Status GP outfit that has taken over Caterham’s entry.

Morning session:

Afternoon session:

Stanaway impresses with seventh in maiden GP2 test