Buemi quickest in Jerez

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was fastest on the first of a four-day testing session in the south of Spain.

Swiss driver paces first day in modified version of STR3

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was fastest on the opening day of testing in Jerez. While the other four teams in action were all testing the set-up on their 2009 challengers, Buemi was behind the wheel of a modified version of Toro Rosso's 2008 car. The four-day test, though, is likely to be the final appearance of the STR3. Buemi worked on the set-up and suspension, and his time of 1:19.660 was the fastest on a track which was wet for most of the day. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel put in a strong performance in the newly launched RB5 to finish second behind Buemi. Vettel, who experienced some gearbox problems while putting the new car through its paces on Monday, was once again forced to stop on the track late in the day. "We had a failure of one of the sensors in the gearbox and we stopped the car to avoid any damage," the German said. Heikki Kovalainen completed his first laps in McLaren's MP4-24 and settled for fourth behind Williams' Nico Hulkenburg, while Nelson Piquet Jr from Renault completed the standings. Day one timesheet
1 S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:19.660 104 laps
2 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:22.177 61 laps
3 N. Hulkenberg Williams 1:22.443 82 laps
4 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:22.643 58 laps
5 N. Piquet Jr Renault 1:23.313 35 laps