Toro Rosso’s topped the timesheets during the second day of F1 testing in Barcelona as the Italian team announced that they would start the new season in with its 'interim' car, dubbed the STR2B. Photo: Sébastien Vettel in Barcelona yesterday.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel jumped to the top of the timesheets during the second day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya yesterday (Saturday) as the Italian team announced that they would start the Formula 1 season in March with their 'interim' car, now dubbed as the STR2B.

Vettel set a fastest time of 1m 21.679s around the Spanish track yesterday to edge out team mate Sébastien Bourdais in the second STR2B by just over one tenth of a second.  During both of their fastest laps the Toro Rosso drivers were running with low fuel, as they tested the performance of the car under qualifying conditions. "The whole day was given over to simulating a race weekend, not just for the benefit of our French rookie driver, but for the entire race team," said Toro Rosso in a statement. "It was a successful day, both in terms of the 'dress rehearsal' and in terms of continuing to gather data on the interim car."

Vettel completed 89 laps, while Bourdais covered 88 over the course of the day. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished third quickest, with team mate Heikki Kovalainen clocking the fourth-fastest time. Just over three tenths down on the MP4-23 of Kovalainen was Robert Kubica in BMW Sauber’s F1.08.

Today, the two Toro Rosso drivers' swapped cars to better evaluate a new front suspension, and both drivers gave positive feedback about this. Rain at the end of the final day provided the opportunity to run on Bridgestone Potenza wet tyres. Bourdais ran 80 laps today (best time: 1:22.877; 7th fastest) while Vettel completed 72 laps (1:23.232, 10th fastest).

“This has been another good test for us, during which we have completed over 2000 kilometres,” commented Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. “This shows we are moving in the right direction in terms of reliability. Our main objective for these three days was to subject the entire team to race weekend conditions and we went through the full programme from preparation to race, including pit stops.” Toro Rosso will be back on track, at Jerez de la Frontera, from 12 to 14 February.

Unofficial Saturday times from Barcelona:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:21.679
2. Sébastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:21.782
3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:22.135
4. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 1:22.511
5. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:22.833
6. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:22.938
7. Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault, 1:23.002
8. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.020
9. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:23.014
10. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:23.322
11. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:23.347
12. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 1:23.948
13. Jenson Button, Honda, 1:23.959
14. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:23.263