It was almost Deja vu at Jerez today as Sebastien Buemi topped the timesheets on the first day of the final test of 2008.

Once again it was the Swiss driver who set the pace, albeit in a different car to that which he drove lat week, depending on one's point of view. Last week Buemi led the way in the Toro Rosso, while today he was on duty for Red Bull as was New Zealander, Brendon Hartley (right).

Apart from a demonstration run and some straight line testing, this was Hartley's first ever proper F1 test and he acquitted himself well, completing more laps than planned. His only mistake was missing the pit lane entry at the end of his very first lap, however, he subsequently went on to set the third fastest time.

"This has been an amazing experience," said the Kiwi. "The first run was really difficult, just in terms of the mind speeding up, as everything's going so much faster than normal. There's a lot of things to think about with button's and radio calls, but I got more and more confident with the car and it was going well by the end of the day. It's a dream come true really. I've been working for this all my life and it's been unbelievable."

Buemi he continued where he left off last week, getting through his full programme which centred on data measurement in the morning and 2009 brake evaluation in the afternoon. He had a slight off at Turn 9, caught out by rain on the artificial grass, but the damage was soon repaired. Tomorrow, Buemi is joined by Sebastian Vettel, who takes over from Hartley.

BMW had two interim cars available for Nick Heidfeld and Christian Klien, both based on the 2008 chassis and featuring some 2009-spec body work. In addition, Klien's car was fitted with BMW's own KERS device, while both drivers evaluated different set-up options in preparation for 2009.

"We also did some tyre testing to learn more about the potential of the new slick tyres", said Heidfeld, whose car stopped out on track around lunchtime when the telemetry data indicated a mechanical problem. After a precautionary engine change he was able resume his programme. Klien's F108B ran without any significant problems. Completing 94 laps, the Austrian tried different configurations of the KERS system.

At Williams; "Nico Hulkenberg started our three day test as he continued work on our winter development programme," revealed Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford. "Despite a damp track this morning which restricted our time on track, Nico completed 100 laps of tyre testing and had no technical issues. Kazuki takes over the FW30B tomorrow for the remaining two days of the test."