Sebastian Vettel is quickest for the second day running for Toro Rosso in Formula 1 testing at Jerez.

Sebastian Vettel continued to set the pace for Toro Rosso as the Formula 1 group test at the Jerez circuit in Spain moved into its second day.

The young German had been fastest during the opening day of the test on Tuesday but managed to improve his time to dip below the 1min 19secs marker; his best time if 1min 18.843secs being two-tenths of a second quicker than anyone else.

Vettel spent his day focusing on 2009 which meant he worked solely with slick Bridgestone tyres on his STR3 while the majority of teams mixed running between preparing for next season and getting ready for the upcoming races.

"I spent the whole time on the 2009 spec slick tyres and the biggest difference you notice is in the slow corners, where you feel more mechanical grip," he said. "However, the low downforce configuration in line with next year's rules means you have a lack of aero which you feel on the high speed sections, but it is balanced out by more grip from the tyres. We tried two types of tyre and it was an interesting experiment, from which we got loads of data to study."

Pedro de la Rosa was second quickest for McLaren as he took over behind the wheel from fellow test driver Gary Paffett and worked on evaluation of the 2009 slick tyre as well as the new aerodynamic package on the car.

Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen hit the track for the first time this week for Ferrari and posted the third fastest time, three-tenths of a second slower than de la Rosa. The Finn focused his attention on trying out various different set-ups on the F2008 ahead of the upcoming races and completed 76 laps during the course of the day.

Nico Rosberg was another driver to hit the track for the first time on the second day of the test and was rewarded with the fourth fastest lap time as he worked on programmes focused on both 2008 and 2009 - running on a mixture of slick and grooved tyres as a result. Mark Webber rounded out the top five for Red Bull Racing and like his 2009 team-mate Vettel, the Australian spent the day running solely on slick tyres as the team focused on development for next year. Having run with reduced downforce to try and run at the levels that will be allowed next season, Webber will turn his focus to short-term development for the upcoming races on his second day of running tomorrow.

Test driver Alex Wurz was sixth quickest for Honda ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli, who concluded his running at the wheel of the TF108 by switching his focus to preparations for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring. Having spent the morning working on set-up, he then worked through an aerodynamic comparison programme in the afternoon.

"After yesterday's preparations for 2009, today we went back to this year's work," the Italian said. "Our focus for the day was the Hungarian Grand Prix, looking at set-up this morning because the afternoons here are too windy and too hot for that. After lunch we worked on aerodynamic correlation between the circuit and the wind tunnel. We tested some of the aero package for Hungary and there is more to come later in the week. W

"e made it through a lot of laps and made progress. Today wasn't about looking for lap times but about improving the car. We are in a close fight for fourth in the constructors' championship and that is what we want to achieve."

Behind Trulli, Tonio Liuzzi was eighth fastest as Force India kick-started a three-day test. The Italian was able to debut the team's new seamless shift gearbox after a brief shakedown at Silverstone next week while also working on suspension, aero testing and reliability runs during the course of the day - completing over 100 laps without any mechanical issues.

"Today was a very productive start to the test with over a hundred laps without any mechanical issues, which was very positive considering we were running the seamless shift box for the first time at a circuit test," test and race engineer Dominic Harlow said. "Tonio also completed some work on the new aero package raced in Hockenheim and the suspension updates.

"In the afternoon we did some longer runs to complete some work on reliability and overall it was a very encouraging start to the test. Tomorrow we will continue with Tonio, when we will push on with the seamless shift testing and also do some work with the slick Bridgestone tyres that will be introduced in 2009.'

Fresh from his podium finish at the weekend in Germany, Nelson Piquet completed a busy day of running for Renault and ended the day with the ninth fastest time. The young Brazilian worked on set-up and balance in the R28 during the morning before his focus turned to testing suspension developments and brakes during the afternoon.

"It was very hot on the track today, especially in the afternoon, which made it difficult to get a great balance with the car," he said. "The hot temperatures also meant that the tyres did not last too long. But we were still able to do some set-up work this morning and tried out some new things on the car, which went well. We now have lots of information that we will go over this evening so that we can maximise tomorrow."

Christian Klien completed the ten runners on track for the BMW Sauber squad, which reverted to working on development of the F1.08 following its aborted testing of the new KERS system yesterday. The Austrian worked on mechanical and aerodynamic solutions for the Hungarian GP and also helped engineers to collect more valuable data on the standard ECU.

The mechanic who suffered minor injuries during the test yesterday when he received an electric shock from the car fitted with the KERS system underwent further medical checks in hospital both last night and this morning and has returned to Switzerland after doctors deemed themselves happy with the outcome of the tests.

Testing continues tomorrow.

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