Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel showed no signs of winter rust on Tuesday after taking the wraps off his new Red Bull and then lapping faster than anyone else in the first test of the year.
The 23-year-old German, the sport’s youngest ever titleholder, completed 93 laps of the Valencia circuit in the RB7 on a cold but bright day that saw seven of the 12 teams debut cars and get to grips with new tires and technology.
“It was a good day and I felt comfortable in the car,” he said after setting a best lap of one minute 13.769 seconds.
Red Bull, Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes GP team, Williams and Toro Rosso all unveiled their new cars at the Ricardo Tormo circuit — with the first two getting most of the publicity — while McLaren, Force India, Virgin and HRT gathered tire data with last year’s racers.
Renault, with an original exhaust system that provided a major talking point, and Sauber had already presented their challengers on Monday while Ferrari were first into the limelight with their F150 shown off at Maranello last week.
online
Malaysian-owned Team Lotus, who had opted not to test on Tuesday in exchange for a day on their own at the Valencia circuit on Friday, had unveiled their car online.
The times, with teams carrying out installation laps and working to iron out gremlins and adapt to the new Pirelli tires that have replaced the Bridgestones, were of little real significance.
Behind Vettel, last year’s cars filled the next three places with Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg, reserve for Force India, second fastest in 1:13.938.
“The feeling is good,” Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, fifth and 0.784 off Vettel’s pace, told reporters after weaving across the paddock with a cellphone clamped to his ear as admirers shrieked his name and mobbed around for autographs.
priority
“The biggest priority for this test is to do mileage, to learn about the car and have a lot of data in three days time when we go back to Maranello,” added Spain’s double world champion, who did more laps (97) than anyone.
“Today was a positive day, with no mechanical problems at all in the car,” he said. “We keep discovering about the new rules, with the rear wing and the KERS, to get used to the system. The tires degrade a lot and are not very consistent at the moment.”
“It’s not the easiest thing to do at the exit of the corners,” Alonso said. “It’s new buttons on the steering wheel but we start slowly and we’ve done some practice in the simulator also.”
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about £2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from