The new RB5 from Red Bull at a standstill!

Sebastian Vettel, behind the wheel of the new Red Bull RB5, was forced to end his first day of testing in Jerez today. A gearbox problem was the cause of this incident.

The German could only complete 14 laps before the team decided to end the tests and investigate the oil tank before returning to action tomorrow morning.

« Unfortunately, we did not achieve what was planned in the schedule, » said Vettel. « We expected to cover more kilometers, but as a precaution for the car and the multiple parts, we decided to stop. »

« The gearbox has raised the oil temperature and we don’t know why, we decided to stop. It takes some time to master the gearbox, especially when the car is new and the mechanics are not quite up to speed. During the season we will be much faster. »

With so few laps completed, Vettel refused to draw conclusions about the performance of the new car.

« We completed 14 laps, so it is very difficult to say anything. We haven’t done a full-speed run yet. Then, early in the day, we faced this gearbox problem. That’s why it’s too early to make any comments, » added the young driver.

Vettel will be back on track tomorrow morning for the first day of actual testing, which will last four days. He will handle two days while his teammate Mark Webber will make his return on the other two days.

During this week of testing in Jerez, Red Bull will compete against Renault, Williams, Toro Rosso, and McLaren-Mercedes.

BMW-Sauber, Ferrari, and Toyota preferred the warmth of the Middle East at Manama on the Sakhir Circuit, which hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix.