Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel said it was nice to finish the opening day of testing for the 2011 season on top of the lap times although he admitted it was more important for him to get laps under his belt in the new Red Bull RB7.
"I think generally it is better to be on top of the rankings rather than being on the other end," said Vettel. "It was the first day and it was most important to do laps, which we did - we did around 93 laps and that is quite an achievement and looking back it is something that we never got quite as good on the first day over the last two or three years, so that is a very good sign. On top of it I feel quite comfortable in the car, I enjoyed myself today and I think it was a good start."
Although Vettel was one of only two drivers to dip into the 1m13s barrier, he remained mindful that it is difficult to draw any conclusions in the embryonic stages of what is a long season ahead.
"It is difficult to say at this stage, we haven't seen all the cars, particularly the McLaren car, it is not yet out on track. This was the first day so very hard to draw conclusions with so little running so we need to have more running on track to see where we are.
"It is practice for all of us, different programmes, different days and we need to be aware of the big teams - hopefully us - and besides us I guess McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes, the logical ones, and who knows, a surprise like Renault who perhaps have an interesting concept from what we saw yesterday. So we will see."
Much of the interest in the paddock centred around how the cars and drivers would react to the technological changes in place for the new season, including the adjustable rear wing, new Pirelli tyres and the return of KERS.
"I think in general it is different to last year, so many things changed, especially with the diffuser, floor of the car, less complexity compared to last year, floors fairly simple and the same for all of us, and a lot of buttons to press this year.
"So we will see how we get on with that - new tyres on top. The car does feel a bit different but after all not that much."
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