Coulthard sets pace in Red Bull testing

David Coulthard was once again on the pace as he tested for Red Bull Racing in the hope of claiming a race seat there next season.

The Scotsman was ninth quickest at Jerez, just a second and a half slower than former McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who set the pace today.

Coulthard, out of a drive after being replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren, was again faster than Red Bull’s regular testers, Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The Toyota pair of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli continued their promising winter testing by setting the second and third fastest times respectively.

Nick Heidfeld set a competitive time in his Williams as he chases a race seat next season.

The German, in his second week of testing for Williams, was just one place and less than a 10th of a second behind Mark Webber, who is already confirmed as a race driver with the team for next season.

Jenson Button put the BAR through its paces and he finished the day 10th after 101 laps, although lap times in testing are rarely an indication of ultimate pace.