Sato leads opening day of testing in Barcelona

UPDATE Final test times for the day:

Today the BMW Sauber F1 Team carried out testing with two F1.08B interim cars featuring a modified 2008 chassis with some of the bodywork complying to the 2009 regulations. In addition, Christian Klien’s car was fitted with BMW’s own KERS device. During the first of three test days in Barcelona the team’s main goal was to collect data in preparation for the 2009 season. Both drivers tried different mechanical and aerodynamic solutions as well as sampling first impressions of the 2009 slick tires.

“We are gaining more and more experience with the KERS system," commented Klien, “but we still have a lot of work to do to fine-tune the system."

Ferrari also had two cars on track, both running wings to simulate 2009 downforce levels. Luca Badoer's car also simulated carrying the extra weight of the KERS system.

11/17/08 Formula One stepped into a new era this morning as testing for the new-look 2009 season got underway in Barcelona. Today marked the first time the 2009 interim cars have been seen in public, with only BMW Sauber and Williams running with 2009-spec aerodynamics. All other teams tested with cars featuring 2008-spec wings.

As we reported last week, Bridgestone have slick tires and their grooved counterparts available to the teams this week, and although the majority of running has been completed on slicks this morning in Spain, a number of teams and drivers have opted for the grooves. As a result times from this week's test will be meaningless just because one driver or another is fastest will mean nothing.

A total of 16 drivers took to the track during the morning, with Toyota being the only team absent. In the battle for the open Toro Rosso seat Sato is ahead of Buemi so far.

Unofficial morning times from Barcelona
1. Takuma Sato (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:20.763, 58 laps
2. Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:21.071, 61 laps
3. Alexander Wurz (Honda) – 1:21.198, 38 laps
4. Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:21.417, 29 laps
5. Gary Paffett (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:22.289, 23 laps
6. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber-BMW) – 1:22.899, 36 laps
7. Nelson Piquet Jr. (Renault) – 1:23.386, 51 laps
8. Luca Badoer (Ferrari) – 1:23.515, 40 laps
9. Christian Klien (BMW Sauber-BMW) – 1:23.685, 25 laps
10. Nico Hülkenberg (Williams-Toyota) – 1:23.757, 64 laps
11. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Ferrari) – 1:23.852, 44 laps
12. Sébastien Loeb (Red Bull-Renault) – 1:24.044, 44 laps
13. Marc Gene (Ferrari) – 1:24.521, 10 laps
14. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Ferrari) – 1:25.344, 41 laps
15. Lucas Di Grassi (Honda) – 1:25.512, 48 laps
16. Giedo van der Garde (Renault) – 1:26.968, 8 laps