Formula 1's preseason testing moved up a notch of intensity on Saturday when leading teams, including Red Bull Racing and McLaren, unveiled their latest updates at Barcelona.
With just two days of testing left before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, rival teams are now making the final preparations to their cars with their latest development parts. Most of the focus on Saturday morning at Barcelona was at Red Bull, with the team having fitted its latest aerodynamic package to a chassis that it has brought to the track for the last two days of running.
Mark Webber gave the new car – which features a number of updates, including a heavily revised exhaust layout (similar to Sauber's), new front and rear wings – its first lap on Saturday morning with Sebastian Vettel admitting that the next two days were crucial.
"We have some new bits for the next two days and then we'll know a little bit more," he had said on Friday. "Everyone is a bit in the same situation. Usually the last couple of days of testing are quite important because you bring some new bits and the car is closer to what you will race at the first race, so we will see if that comes true."
Webber completed a single installation lap of the car on Saturday morning, before the RB8 was returned to the pits for post-run checks prior to further tests.
Red Bull showed how determined it was to keep its design under wraps from the opposition as the car was heavily shrouded by covers as it returned to the pits, and mechanics swarmed over the car to keep photographers at bay.