• Jerez Testing

Vettel thinks 2010 cars are closely matched

Sebastian Vettel drove the RB6 for the first time on Friday © Getty Images

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• Drivers:
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel said he is expecting a closely packed field this season after completing his first day of testing in the new Red Bull.

Last year Brawn and Red Bull dominated the championship, with Ferrari and McLaren generally off the pace. But after the initial testing runs this year the pecking order is less clear and Vettel believes that the 2010 cars are currently quite evenly matched.

"I expect everyone to improve from where they are now, so we will see," he said. "At the moment it is pretty close, so it looks promising, looks interesting. If you are good or bad always depends on your rivals. It has not been straightforward running, with everyone in the same conditions and out on the track at the same time, and everyone on the same fuel load. So the answer is unknown. But it feels good. We don't have any problems and balance-wise it [the RB6] feels very similar to last year, which is a good sign."

However, he warned that larger fuel tanks and dramatically differing fuel loads could make the order unclear right up until qualifying in Bahrain.

"If you look at the lap times sometimes you might think it is easy to see who is on a full tank and who is not, but then people are playing around, so you are pretty lost sometimes," he admitted. "You might be three seconds off but still you might be quick, so also for this year it will be quite a challenge. You might arrive at a grand prix on a Friday three seconds off the pace, but possibly you are the fastest and won't know until Saturday when you go to qualifying."

Vettel will continue to test the Red Bull in Jerez tomorrow.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.