Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the first day of pre-season testing in the new Renault-powered Red Bull RB7, completing 93 laps today.
Vettel’s best time was 1:13.769, 1.195 second slower than the best lap time set on the first day of testing last year (Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.274).
The Red Bull team used the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the car and it was the first chance the team had had to use the Pirelli tires since the Abu Dhabi test at the end of last
season.
Nico Hulkenberg set the second time of the day behind the wheel of last year’s Force India.The team used the VJM03 to gather further tire data while valuable development work is continued on the VJM04 in the wind tunnel back at Silverstone.
Gary Paffett was third in the McLaren. The team of Woking, UK has chosen to wait until next week before hitting the track with its 2011 car, and is instead using this week's Valencia test to set benchmarks on Pirellis with the 2010 MP4-25 machine.
Paul di Resta was fourth in the Force India ahead of Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard gave the F150 its official track debut, after it had been launched last Friday in Maranello. Alonso worked mainly on general car development and on gaining further understanding of the Pirelli tires.
Kamui Kobayashi drove the new Sauber C30-Ferrari to 6th place.
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| Ferrari used fluorescent paint to visualise the air flow around the rear of the car. (Photo: WRI2) |
Vettel’s best time was 1:13.769, 1.195 second slower than the best lap time set on the first day of testing last year (Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.274).
The Red Bull team used the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the car and it was the first chance the team had had to use the Pirelli tires since the Abu Dhabi test at the end of last
season.
Nico Hulkenberg set the second time of the day behind the wheel of last year’s Force India.The team used the VJM03 to gather further tire data while valuable development work is continued on the VJM04 in the wind tunnel back at Silverstone.
Gary Paffett was third in the McLaren. The team of Woking, UK has chosen to wait until next week before hitting the track with its 2011 car, and is instead using this week's Valencia test to set benchmarks on Pirellis with the 2010 MP4-25 machine.
Paul di Resta was fourth in the Force India ahead of Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard gave the F150 its official track debut, after it had been launched last Friday in Maranello. Alonso worked mainly on general car development and on gaining further understanding of the Pirelli tires.
Kamui Kobayashi drove the new Sauber C30-Ferrari to 6th place.
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| Vitaly Petrov, Lotus Renault (Photo: WRI2) |