Report claims Red Bull sandbagging at last test

Hot on the heels of suggestions some teams have been turning ’glory laps’ in testing, it is reported that Red Bull has been doing exactly the opposite.

Autosprint in Italy claims that when Sebastian Vettel topped the times at the wheel of the RB7 on the opening two days at the recent Barcelona test, he was carrying plenty of fuel.

The fact that the German was able to outpace its rivals whilst not even simulating qualifying is therefore an ominous sign for the forthcoming 2011 season.

But Vettel insisted: "With the new tyres it is difficult to interpret performance over a lap, whether it’s your own or someone else’s."

Red Bull’s driver consultant Helmut Marko, however, recently admitted that the reigning champions as well as Ferrari have their noses ahead at present.

As for the much talked-about Pirellis, he told Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung: "We are having problems with the tyres, but less problems than the others."