Mark Webber said he was encouraged with the early form of the new Red Bull RB9 on the opening day of testing in Jerez.
Webber set the second fastest time of the day, behind Jenson Button. The car ran reliably, with the team saying it got through “90%” of the planned workload.
The team did a lot of work on the new tyres, and Webber had some interesting comments to make about them.
“It was pretty good,” said Webber. “As Adrian [Newey] said at the launch, there haven’t been big changes to the regulations this year and the car is an evolution of the one we finished with last season, so there were no big surprises. I think most of the drivers will sit back tonight and think today’s times were pretty competitive.
“It was actually like a Friday practice session in some regards. We started understanding the tyres and there were a lot of positives. There’s a bit of housekeeping we have to get on top of but, other than that, it’s been encouraging.
“The car feels similar to last year’s, so the main difference is the tyres. With these tyres you’re always on your toes. It was good that we had consistent temperatures today, so we got a lot of information and feedback to analyse, which is all good. Generally though, the car feels pretty good, so I’m happy.”
Adam Cooper F1 