Webber proves fitness

Mark Webber removed nagging doubts over his fitness by completing 83 laps of today’s test session at Jerez.

Just under three months after breaking his right leg, Webber was in the cockpit of the new Red Bull that was unveiled on Monday.

The 32-year-old Australian, who continues to walk with a pronounced limp, was second fastest of those drivers running the ’09 cars.

With a best time of one minute 21.321 seconds, just over half a second down on Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren, Webber was delighted with how the day unfolded.

“There were a lot of questions going into today and I answered them,” said Webber after a trouble-free day for himself and the car.

“From my point of view, it all went better than expected, and to do over a race distance on my first day back in the cockpit, with several weeks to go to Melbourne, is a good thing.”

Kovalainen, who tomorrow will give way to reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, completed 110 laps as the team focused on the KERS device.

However, McLaren opted not to use the high-downforce 2009-spec rear wing, and instead ran a modified 2008 version, giving Kovalainen a time of 1min 20.799secs.

Kazuki Nakajima clocked up 125 laps in his Williams, finishing narrowly behind Webber, with Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jnr again bringing up the rear with 1:21.908.

Piquet Jnr, who hands over to Fernando Alonso tomorrow, managed just 49 laps due to a technical issue during the afternoon.

The fastest time of the day again belonged to Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso, just over three seconds quicker than Kovalainen, albeit in a predominantly ’08 car.