Webber finds form in Jerez

Australian practices on slick tyres with 2009 in mind

Last updated: 24th July 2008

mark webber red bull 10/5/2008

Webber: quickest during Thursday's test

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Mark Webber ensured the Red Bull family continued to set the pace at Formula One's Jerez test.

After Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets over the first two days, it was Webber's turn to lead the way on Thursday.

The Australian, who will be partnered at Red Bull next season by Vettel, set a best lap time of 1:19.176 on slick tyres as teams prepare for a return to the rubber in 2009.

Webber edged Renault's Nelson Piquet into second by 0.158secs. The Brazilian, who finished runner-up in Sunday's German Grand Prix, was also operating on slicks.

For the second day in a row, Ferrari's defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest on normal grooved tyres, finishing just over a quarter-of-a-second behind Webber.

Force India test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was fourth as the team continue to successfully trial their seamless shift gearbox this week in readiness to debut at next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Pedro de la Rosa caused one of three red flags by running off at the chicane early on in his McLaren and eventually finished down in fifth, followed by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais and Kazuki Nakajima in the Williams.

Glock returns

Timo Glock put his horrific shunt during Sunday's German GP at Hockenheim behind him by returning to the cockpit.

"It was good to get back in the car and that was a positive day's testing for us," said Toyota driver Glock, who was eighth quickest of the 10 drivers on track.

"We pushed hard in the morning and were able to get through most of our plan for the day before lunch.

"The main thing is I've made a full recovery from my accident and I feel fine."

Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who had an engine problem late on, was down in ninth, with BMW again bringing up the rear with Nick Heidfeld 1.720secs adrift.

Times
01 M. Webber Red Bull 01:19.176 85 laps
02 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:19.334 95 laps
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:19.434 84 laps
04 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 01:19.544 86 laps
05 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:19.850 39 laps
06 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:20.029 77 laps
07 K. Nakajima Williams 01:20.097 88 laps
08 T. Glock Toyota 01:20.421 78 laps
09 R. Barrichello Honda 01:20.614 68 laps
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:20.896 97 laps