After recent appearances for Toro Rosso, tester Sebastien Buemi was back in action for Red Bull on Monday as this week’s three-day session got underway at Jerez. Buemi clocked the quickest time, a 1m 17.704s, as he ran alongside New Zealander Brendon Hartley in the other RB4, the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg and the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Christian Klien.
Over the course of the day Buemi completed his full programme which included data measurement in the morning and a brake evaluation in the afternoon. And despite a slight off at Turn Nine, after being caught out by rain on the artificial grass, he covered 71 laps. Hartley, meanwhile, completed 83 laps and finished the day in third.
“This has been an amazing experience,” said the young New Zealand driver. “The first run was really difficult, just in terms of the mind speeding up, as everything’s going so much faster than normal. There’s a lot of things to think about with buttons and radio calls, but I got more and more confident with the car and it was going well by the end of the day. It’s a dream come true really. I’ve been working for this all my life and it’s been unbelievable.”
Heidfeld finished the day second after covering 75 laps in the interim BMW Sauber, despite a brief on-track stoppage caused by a mechanical problem. Austrian Klien, who was driving an F1.08B fitted with the team’s KERS device, completed 94 laps on his way to fourth on the timesheets.
Both BMW Sauber drivers evaluated different set-up options in preparation for the 2009 season and carried out some tyre testing. Heidfeld will continue to test on Tuesday and will be joined on track by team mate Robert Kubica.
Completing Monday’s line-up was Hulkenberg for Williams. The British team’s tester concentrated on set-up work, aero optimization and slick tyre development and covered 100 laps on his way to fifth in the timesheets.
Testing continues at Jerez on Tuesday.
Unofficial Monday times from Jerez:
1. Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull, 1:17.704
2. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:19.360
3. Brendon Hartley, Red Bull, 1:19.586
4. Christian Klien, BMW Sauber, 1:19.655
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:20.704
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