18-Sep-08: Vettel Leads Day 3 at Jerez Test

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 18th September 2008.

Vettel led the way at testing in Jerez today, still in the Red Bull car. He posted the fastest time despite only managing 37 laps due to an engine change. BMW were second, and Renault third. There was some rain in the middle of the day, which disrupted quite a few of the team’s programmes.

Someone in particular who was affected by the weather, was Takuma Sato who returned to Formula 1 for a test with Toro Rosso. He completed just under 50 laps and was 6th out of 8 runners. Afterwards, he said: “Although I couldn’t complete the day due to the weather conditions, I really enjoyed driving the STR3. I would like to say a big thank you to Red Bull and to the team for giving me this great opportunity.” What he doesn’t say is: Please give me a race seat next year.

Elsewhere today, Ron Dennis has issued some fighting talk, saying that McLaren are confident to do well at every circuit left on the calendar this year, and he feels they’re closing in on the constructor’s title at every stage.

That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.