Toro Rosso’s rising star shines in Spain

Seb Vettel was quickest at Jerez yesterday, although he was one of only two grand prix drivers to test - Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was the other. Vettel and Trulli apart, Tuesday was a chance for the test drivers to do what they’re paid for.

Full timesheet below:

Day one, Jerez

1. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) 1:19.844 (94 laps completed)
2. Gary Paffett ( McLaren) 1:20.179 (80 laps)
3. Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1:20.697 (69 laps)
4. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:20.953 (58 laps)
5. Sebastian Buemi (Red Bull) 1:20.997 (110 laps)
6. Romain Grosjean (Renault) 1:21.223 (71 laps)

7. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:21.459 (96 laps)
8. Alex Wurz (Honda) 1:21.596 (84 laps)
9. Christian Klien (BMW-Sauber) no time (3 laps)*

* As we told you yesterday, Klien’s run was halted prematurely when a BMW mechanic suffered a big electric shock - the result of the team testing the controversial new KERS energy-saving system for 2009.

And Force India didn’t test.

That’s an impressive time by Vettel - there really isn’t much to choose between the Toro Rosso and the senior Red Bull.