Jerez Day 1: Vettel tops Hamilton

F1 testing in Jerez, Spain Tuesday was heavily affected by the wet conditions – heavy rain overnight and this morning meant a soaking track forcing initial runs on wet tires.

A break in the weather over lunch provided dry running in the early afternoon, before the return of the rain. The official timing system also shut down during which teams lost a few recorded laps, but it was clear by the end of the day that Sebastian Vettel had made the quickest time in his Red Bull car.

Michael Schumacher: "The weather was really changing all the time today which made it difficult to follow our planned program and to have a clear picture of everyone's performance. From the laps that we achieved, we have again confirmed the reliability of the car, and from the impressions and data gathered, we can say that the pace and performance looks very good. We have a strong basis to keep up the development this week here in Jerez and next week at the final test in Barcelona."

TIMES (All timings are unofficial)

Pos Driver Car Time Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:22.593 103
2. Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:23.017 72
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:23.204 72
4. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:23.322 79
5. Pedro De La Rosa BMW Sauber 1:23.367 77
6. Michael Schumacher MERCEDES GP PETRONAS 1:23.803 111
7. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:24.272 28
8. Paul Di Resta Force India 1:25.088 76
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:26.237 59
10. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:27.320 109
11. Fairuz Fauzy Lotus 1:31.848 76
12. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 1:32.417 10