Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel prevails on day 1 of Barcelona pre-season testing – Formula 1 news
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel took the first slot from his teammate Mark Webber on the second day of the last pre-season test in Barcelona.
He was a fraction of second faster than Webber’s fastest time on day one. He posted a time of 1 minute and 21.865 seconds. This is the second consecutive day when Red Bull have outmatched every other competitor comprehensively.
Following Vettel was a much debated Toro Rosso car of Sebastian Buemi who posted a fastest time of 1 minute and 22.396 seconds. Toro Rosso’s double floor was a hot topic and many Formula 1 champions have seen competition in them. Buemi did cause the red
flag on turn 9 in the afternoon session but finished in the second spot.
Third fastest was Renault’s Vitaly Petrov who managed a reliable day with completing more than 100 laps in his car, R31. He posted a fastest lap of 1 minute and 22.670 seconds.
He said, “I’m pleased with what we achieved today and I was able to learn a lot about the car and the tyres. But the most important thing was to complete the race distance, which we managed this afternoon.”
Following Petrov in fourth position was the most criticised car of 2011 pre-testing season, McLaren. Lewis Hamilton took the car over from Jenson Button and was able to bag some mileage. He mainly focused on long stints and evaluating the set-ups and Pirelli
tyres.
Fifth was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa who managed more than 100 laps in his Ferrari 150° Italia and gathered some good data out on the track. This is Ferrari’s first day in the last test, as they will race from 9th to 12th of
March.
Force India’s Paul Di Resta finished sixth fastest with 1 minute and 24.334 seconds in his VJM-04. His car stopped in the morning session at the first straight end causing a red flag, but in afternoon session, he ran smoothly.
Seventh was Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi who did 107 laps in total with a fastest of 1 minute and 24.436 seconds. Mercedes GP had their first run in the final test and Nico Rosberg took the car on the track. Ninth was Lotus’ Jarno Trulli with 98 laps in his
T128.
Tenth was the birthday boy, Pastor Maldonado, who turned 26 and had a couple of red flags to his name. Maldonado did not have a smooth run as his car was halted in the morning session due to a Kinetic Energy Recovery System failure, which was removed for
the afternoon session. Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio came 11th in the session.
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