Nico Rosberg was another driver to hit the track for the first time on the second day of the test and was rewarded with the fourth fastest lap time as he worked on programmes focused on both 2008 and 2009 – running on a mixture of slick and grooved tyres as a result.
Mark Webber rounded out the top five for
Red Bull Racing and like his 2009 team-mate Vettel, the Australian spent the day running solely on slick tyres as the team focused on development for next year. Having run with reduced downforce to try and run at the levels that will be allowed next season, Webber will turn his focus to short-term development for the upcoming races on his second day of running tomorrow.
Test driver Alex Wurz was sixth quickest for
Honda ahead of
Toyota's
Jarno Trulli, who concluded his running at the wheel of the TF108 by switching his focus to preparations for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring. Having spent the morning working on set-up, he then worked through an aerodynamic comparison programme in the afternoon.
"After yesterday's preparations for 2009, today we went back to this year's work,” the Italian said. “Our focus for the day was the Hungarian Grand Prix, looking at set-up this morning because the afternoons here are too windy and too hot for that. After lunch we worked on aerodynamic correlation between the circuit and the wind tunnel. We tested some of the aero package for Hungary and there is more to come later in the week.
"We made it through a lot of laps and made progress. Today wasn't about looking for lap times but about improving the car. We are in a close fight for fourth in the constructors' championship and that is what we want to achieve."
Behind Trulli, Tonio Liuzzi was eighth fastest as
Force India kick-started a three-day test. The Italian was able to debut the team's new seamless shift gearbox after a brief shakedown at
Silverstone next week while also working on suspension, aero testing and reliability runs during the course of the day – completing over 100 laps without any mechanical issues.
