Vettel takes new, old Ferrari for Fiorano spin

"My first day at Ferrari," plus Saturday's date, read the inscription on Sebastian Vettel's all-white helmet worn at the Fiorano test track.

The German four-time world champion, whose previous contract with Red Bull had expired at midnight, took to the track on Saturday morning in both a Ferrari 458 Italia road car, and then a version of the Ferrari's F2012 used two seasons ago. It's the same Ferrari Vettel pipped to the 2012 F1 world championship, his third, after a stunning recovery drive in the season finale at Interlagos.

F1's testing rules prohibit teams from using current cars in unofficial sessions - a bid to prevent teams like Ferrari from gaining an unfair advantage by virtue of having their own test track.

Vettel's move to Ferrari, apparent ever since he announced his shock departure from Red Bull, was only confirmed last week, when the Scuderia announced the departure of lead driver Fernando Alonso. Like Alonso, Vettel had a contract through 2015, but a performance clause allowed him an early exit; Ferrari and Alonso said they parted ways by "mutual consent."

Although the news of Saturday's test broke via specialist websites somewhat earlier, the announcement soon caught the attention of Germany's SportBild magazine on Twitter.

"Vettel already in a @ScuderiaFerrari? No way? Oh yes! Test drive in Maranello," is a possible translation for the Tweet above.

Champion from 2010 to 2013 without interruption, Vettel and the Red Bull team struggled in 2014, not least because of the introduction of new, more technologically complex hybrid power units. The hybrid motor provided by Renault struggled to keep pace with the Mercedes motor, with the Silver Arrows dominating both the drivers' and constructors' championships.

But Vettel also had his own personal problems on track, finishing the season with fewer points than his younger Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo; it was the first time in his F1 career that a rival outscored Vettel in identical machinery.

Vettel had initially hoped to take to the track for Ferrari immediately after last weekend's Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, at the end-of-season testing session. However, he would have required a special dispensation from Red Bull, which was not forthcoming, to represent another team before the expiry of his 2014 contract.

Ferrari's season was also a turbulent one. For the first time since 1993, the team failed to win an F1 race. The Italian outfit also parted ways with two F1 team principals, its F1 engine division director and longstanding overarching Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo in the course of 2014.

msh/tj (AFP, AP)