JEREZ, Spain — Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull set the pace in Formula One testing on Sunday, when Force India debuted its 2009 car.
The young German driver clocked the fastest lap in 1 minute, 19.055 seconds at the Jerez Circuit to finish nearly 1.3 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
Toyota test driver Kumui Kobayashi was third fastest, while Nico Rosberg of Williams and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica rounded out the top-five on a day that was stop-and-go due to showers.
Giancarlo Fisichella set a best lap of 1:21.584 for Force India, which tested for the first time since it began using McLaren engines and gearboxes. Force India finished last with zero points in its debut season last year.
“It’s very promising and I felt much more consistency, even under braking, and more stability in the high speed corners,” said Fisichella, who is going into his 14th season.
“We are not that far away from the other people so I am looking forward to tomorrow and another day with more laps where we can try to improve the car a little bit and concentrate on reliability.”
McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa and Nelson Piquet Jr. of Renault completed the field.
Toro Rosso and Honda were the only F1 teams not present at the track in southern Spain.
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