F1: Vettel Off on the Right Foot with RBR in Barcelona

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Off on the Right Foot with RBR in Barcelona

German tops Tuesday; de la Rosa last with Force India.

RACER & autosport.com | http://www.racer.com/speedtv | Posted November 18, 2008 Barcelona, Spain

Vettel headed a quarter of Red Bull cars, with Sato the fastest of the three Toro Rosso drivers. (LAT Photo)

New Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel was off to a perfect debut by topping the times on the second day of testing at Barcelona.

The German driver led a quartet of Red Bull cars, as Takuma Sato was the fastest of the three Toro Rossos that finished behind Vettel.

Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi proved the battle for the 2009 Toro Rosso seats is a tight one, finishing right behind Sato.

"I have really enjoyed the test and it was great to be back in the car," said Sato. "The last test in September was a little disappointing, because I could do only 3 hours, as it rained in the afternoon.

"But this test has been great - I have now done my first full day's driving in 7 months and completed a total of 200 laps. The car has worked really well and felt great to drive.”

McLaren's test driver Gary Paffett completed the top five as he worked with both the MP-23 and the MP4-23K, the KERS test car. The Briton was only the driver working for McLaren as Pedro de la Rosa was testing for the Force India team.

A tough first day at the new office for de la Rosa. (LAT Photo)

Paffett moved to the MP4-23 after his KERS car suffered a minor oil leak that prompted the team to take a precautionary switch.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was sixth fastest as his team continue to focus on work with their interim cars fitted with 2009 aero packages.

"Of course we lose a lot of downforce compared to the 2008 car," Kubica said. "But because we are back from grooved to slick tires, we have substantially more grip in slow corners.

"So with some more development I don't think there will be too big a difference between the 2009 and 2008 cars."

Nico Rosberg was the only man in charge of testing duties for Williams, the German finishing in seventh, ahead of Jenson Button in the first of the Hondas. The second was again driven by Lucas di Grassi, who finished as tenth quickest after 110 laps. Tomorrow di Grassi will handle his car over to Bruno Senna.

The Renault team worked again with Nelson Piquet and Giedo van der Garde, both men focusing mainly on collection of data from the slick Bridgestone tires. "It was a similar day to yesterday as we continued learning about the slick tires and working on the car set-up by trying to simulate next year's settings," said Piquet.

Pedro de la Rosa, testing a Ferrari-powered Force India for the first time, finished at the bottom of the times after 86 laps.

Barcelona F1 testing times - Tuesday:

1) Vettel Red Bull-Renault , 1:19.751 70 laps
2) Sato Toro Rosso-Ferrari , 1:20.017 79
3) Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari , 1:20.034 48
4) Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari , 1:20.223 99
5) Paffett McLaren-Mercedes , 1:21.340 31
6) Kubica BMW-Sauber , 1:21.521 76
7) Rosberg Williams-Toyota , 1:21.525 113
8) Button Honda , 1:21.770 110
9) Sutil Force India-Ferrari , 1:22.073 58
10) di Grassi Honda , 1:22.283 110
11) Piquet Renault , 1:22.348 85
12) Badoer Ferrari , 1:22.425 127
13) Gene Ferrari , 1:22.772 31
14) Heidfeld BMW-Sauber , 1:22.945 81
15) van der Garde Renault , 1:23.250 37
16) de la Rosa Force India-Ferrari , 1:23.499 86