UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Vettel quickest on day 2

Red Bull new boy in action

The second day of winter testing at Barcelona was a Red Bull carnival as new works driver Sebastian Vettel took the best time of the day in the Red Bull RB4. Running a 2008 specification car the German star lapped the circuit in 1:19.751 – the only time under 1:20 – although the significance of the time is unknown giving the range of different specifications across the field.

The next three drivers were the STR trio, with Takuma Sato cementing his suitability for a race seat ahead of current driver Sebastien Bourdais and hopeful Sebastien Buemi. The three ran closely, with under two tenths covering their fastest times.

Gary Paffett was in action for Mclaren, the Briton in the MP4-23K – the K for KERS – until an oil leak relegated him to the standard car, and set the fifth best time, while sixth went to Robert Kubica in the 2009 aero spec BMW-Sauber. The Pole confessed to having more grip in the slow corners thanks to the new slick tyres, despite a loss of overall downforce, and set a time just shy of Paffetts. Nick Heidfeld was also in action for BMW.

Nico Rosberg ran for Williams, and Jenson Button shared duties with Lucas di Grassi at Honda, while the Ferrari duo of Luca Badoer and Marc Gene worked on getting a feel for the new tyres and engine reliability.

Nelson Piquet and Giedo van der Garde again ran for Renault, while the main interest of the day came at Force India where Pedro de la Rosa, Mclaren test driver, joined Adrian Sutil in the Ferrari-powered machine. The Spaniard managed 86 laps and set a time some one and a half seconds slower than the German regular driver.

Written: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:52:07