Successful shakedown for RB4

David Coulthard was at the wheel of Red Bull Racing's challenger for the 2008 season, the RB4, giving the new car its first ever run at the Jerez circuit today. The day can be described as successful, given that DC completed a total of 54 laps, putting in some long runs in dry conditions this afternoon, having completed a couple of installation laps on a damp track in the morning.

Adrian Newey: "Today was all about giving the new car a good shakedown and getting some miles on it. Now we hope to settle down to proper performance testing, starting in Valencia next week. The car's potential? Far too early to say!"

Geoffrey Willis: "This was an encouraging start with quite a few laps completed for what was a shakedown day. We went through most of the systems and completed much of what we needed to do prior to performance testing. We were able to look at several elements, such as the cooling system and various other data, with everything working reasonably well. We now have a few days to get more parts ready for some tough testing in Valencia next week."

Running alongside RB4, Mark Webber continued in RB3 today. "This has been a successful test and we are happy with the progress made," commented Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "We worked mainly on tuning the electronics, with particular regard to starts and got through all our programme."

The team resumes testing at the Valencia circuit, running from 22 to 24 January.

Mark Webber ( RB3 - 03 ) Time: 1:22.275 Laps: 53
David Coulthard ( RB4 - 01 ) Time: 1:22.581 Laps: 54
Fastest Lap:Timo Glock 1:19.779