Webber on top with Red Bull

The final tests ahead of the new season got underway this morning at Circuit de Catalunya with 11 of the 13 teams registered for the championship in action.

The Spanish Grand Prix venue is well known to the team and it is also places a great deal of emphasis on aerodynamics. In general, if a car is quick at this circuit, it should be fast everywhere.

Mark Webber set the pace with a best lap of 1:21.487s early in the day in his Red Bull Renault and after the lunch break the team added race fuel to the RB6 for a number of long runs.

A mechanical problem saw Webber stop at turn seven in the early afternoon but he was soon back on track and his time remained unbeaten all afternoon.

With the increased minimum weight this year and the narrower front tyres, Rubens Barrichello’s 1:18.926s recorded in the Brawn Mercedes last March is unlikely to be beaten.

Nico Hulkenberg was second fastest for Williams Cosworth, a second shy of Webber’s best ahead of Nico Rosberg who was one of a number of drivers to stop with a mechanical problem this afternoon. Pedro de la Rosa was fourth in his Sauber Ferrari.

Jenson Button was on test duty for McLaren Mercedes today, the team fitting some unusual looking sensors (see picture) to the MP4-25 behind the rear wing, presumably to monitor airflow off of the rear element.

The 2009 champion brought out the final red flag right at the end of the day when his McLaren ground to a halt at turn ten.

Over at Force India, the team completed extensive pit stop practice with Tonio Liuzzi recording the sixth fastest time of the day, while an electronic issue halted the Ferrari test programme this morning, leaving Fernando Alonso stranded on track in the brand new F10 challenger.

The double world champion completed just 22 laps in the morning, but a more productive afternoon saw him add another 51 laps to his tally, ending the day seventh. Vitaly Petrov was eighth for Renault ahead of Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso, the latter the busiest driver on track with 111 laps.

Virgin Racing did not take part in the afternoon session after a suspected – and yet to be confirmed - rear wing failure caught out rookie Lucas di Grassi this morning.

With significant front and rear damage to the VR-01 after going off at turn nine, the team was forced to sit out the rest of the session after completing just 31 laps.

Fairuz Fauzy brought up the bottom of the timesheets for Lotus, losing track time in the morning with a hydraulics problem.

Testing continues at Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow.