Barcelona Day 1 – Sato Scores Points with Toro Rosso

Takuma Sato behind the wheel of a Toro Rosso made a sensational return to Formula 1 by being the fastest during the first day of testing in Barcelona, Spain.

All the teams, except for Toyota, were present for the first winter tests as the 2008 season ended only two weeks ago. To comply with the new regulations that will be in effect in 2009, the teams face several challenges.

A total of 17 drivers took to the track today, with a large number of test drivers and hopefuls. Takuma Sato was among them, testing for Toro Rosso for the second time this year.

The Japanese driver aiming to secure a race seat in 2009 achieved the fastest time of the day with a 1:20.763 in an STR3.

The Italian team dominated this day of testing, also thanks to Red Bull test driver Sébastien Buemi, who finished second behind Sato in a similar car.

Alex Wurz for Honda takes third place at the wheel of a revised RA108 as the team evaluated new aerodynamic components for the next season as well as the famous Bridgestone slick tires.

The McLaren-Mercedes test drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett, are 4th and 6th. The Woking team has started testing its KERS, but only on board the Spanish driver’s car.

The BMW-Sauber team is the one that attracted the most attention today thanks to the introduction of a completely redesigned car. This car complies with the 2009 aerodynamic regulations, making it distinct from other single-seaters. Robert Kubica and Christian Klien (7th and 10th respectively) were both in a hybrid car. The Austrian is the second driver to have used the KERS today.

The five-time world rally champion, Sébastien Loeb, experienced his second stint in Formula 1 today after Renault a few months ago. Testing with Red Bull, he deserves commendation with an impressive eighth place, just 1.7 seconds behind the leader.

The GP2 runner-up, Bruno Senna, made his Formula 1 debut with Honda Racing. The Brazilian shared his car with his compatriot Lucas di Grassi. He is 15th with more than a second ahead of the Renault test driver, who is last.

The Brazilian duo is separated by Giedo van der Garde, who was testing for Renault. A reward for winning the World Series by Renault. The Dutch driver only completed 27 laps after stopping in the middle of the afternoon at the side of the track. Piquet was also present and is in 9th place.

The other two red flags of the day were caused by Kubica’s stoppage on the track in the morning and by Nico Hülkenberg’s Williams, which still ranked 11th with 116 laps completed. He closely follows the day’s record holders in terms of the number of laps completed. Buemi and Sato completed 117 and 121 laps.

Liuzzi and Sutil were present for Force India and finished in the middle of the pack in 12th and 13th place.

Join us tomorrow for the second day of testing in Barcelona.

Result Barcelona Tests – Day 1 – November 17, 2008: