Valencia test: Vettel still on top

Testing at Valencia resumed this morning with Sebastian Vettel still setting the pace at the wheel of his new RB7.

The Red Bull Racing driver was topping the timesheets at 12.30, with a 1’13’614 fastest time. He has already completed 93 laps of the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Second fastest, Fernando Alonso has a few more laps under his belt.

Paul di Resta, driving the 2010 Force India set the third fastest time of the morning. Lewis Hamilton, at the wheel of last year’s McLaren, was fourth fastest.

The Woking-based team indicated this test session was mainly dedicated to testing Pirelli latest generation of tyres, as it will only be launching its new MP4-26 on Friday.

Today saw the first steps of the Lotus T128. Driven by Heikki Kovalainen, it only completed three laps in the first three and a half hours of today’s testing.

Sauber rookie Sergio Perez and Jaime Alguersuari had a really close encounter this morning. They almost collided at the end of the main straight as the Toro Rosso driver, coming out of the pit lane, failed to see Perez.

The morning session was red-flagged twice: first at 9.33 when Rubens Barrichello had a mechanical problem on his Williams, then at 10.20 when Paul di Resta went off track

Testing will continue until 5pm.

The fastest lap times at 12.30 :