WITH 102 LAPS IN THE RB9

JEREZ TESTDAY THREE

Driver:  Sebastian Vettel

Car:  RB9

Laps:  102 laps

Best time:  1:19.052

Circuit length:  4.428km

Fastest lap:  F. Massa (1:17.879)

 WITH 102 LAPS IN THE RB9

After two days with Mark Webber at the wheel of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB9, today it was Sebastian Vettels turn to get acquainted with the new car. The triple world champion wasted no time in exploring its potential and set the days third-quickest time, with a lap of 1:19.052. After 102 laps Sebastian said it had been good to get behind the wheel again after the winter break.

So far, I think we can be pretty happy, he said. Mark had a good couple of days to start with and I took over today. It was great to get back in the car, to get rid of the rust and to get back in the groove again. The first feeling is good and the car is working well. Its difficult to judge the speed, but in terms of reliability it looks pretty good. For today we accomplished what we set out to achievewhich was to put a lot of laps on the car.

At this stage its very difficult to judge anything else, he added. It could be that there is a favourite after these three tests, but it could turn out to be completely different in Australia because its a different track with different characteristics. I expect the Championship to be at least as tight as last year, as the regulations havent changed so much.

In terms of the times, its always nice to be on top, but if theres one phase of the year where it matters least, its here. Now is the time to do our homework. Its good for us to do a lot of laps, to see that the car is working well and well go from there.

Race Engineering Co-ordinator Andy Damerum commented: Obviously today was Sebastians first chance to drive the RB9 and, as with Mark, the car behaved well. We were a little delayed getting out this morning because of a few changes we wanted to make, but it didnt hamper progress and another 102 laps is very respectable. Today was about carrying on the work of the past two days, evolving the car and how its performing. We worked on set-up in the morning, did some aero work in the afternoon and also put in some longer runs to check durability and to continue assessing the tyres. Tomorrow, itll hopefully be more of the same.