Mar.25 (GMM) As action kicked off under cloudy Melbourne skies, it emerged that new world champion Sebastian Vettel has finally dreamed up a name for his 2011 ride.

The British press speculated that the unofficial name for his new Red Bull - Kinky Kylie - is a nod to Australian pop star Kylie Minogue.

Referring to his RB7 rather than the singer, Vettel confirmed: "It has a tight butt, is supple and is good to look at."

On more serious matters, Jarno Trulli will have cringed when Friday test driver Karun Chandhok crashed his Team Lotus car within three corners of his outlap early on Friday.

The Indian driver hit the wall hard after losing control of the T128 under power. "I don't know what happened, I just lost it," he said on the radio as team figures shook their heads.

Team Lotus later confirmed that there had not been a technical failure, and that it should be prepared for Trulli by the start of the second session.

Chandhok did cover more metres than his former team HRT, with Narain Karthikeyan milling about wearing jeans and not scheduled to drive at all in the initial session.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, at least wearing his overalls, was more hopeful: "Hopefully we will get out at least one car to get some data, and then for the second session have both cars," he told Australian broadcaster One.

The Italian joked that "every flight landing in Melbourne" at present contains parts of the Cosworth-powered F111, adding that: "We should be 100 per cent on the track for tomorrow".

Ultimately, neither contender made it onto the track, but the struggling team will at least be able to continue working overnight, thanks to the FIA rule allowing four exceptions per season to the mechanics' curfew.

Latest F1 News - Mobile version

26 Feb: New Ferrari not quickest in field - Domenicali 26 Feb: Red Bull still best in 2013 - Tost 26 Feb: 2014 French grand prix 'possible' - Prost 26 Feb: Danica Patrick 'not interested' in F1 switch 26 Feb: Report - Gilles Simon working on F1 engine for Honda 26 Feb: Gutierrez plays down link to Carlos Slim 26 Feb: Caterham exhaust 'legal' insists van der Garde 26 Feb: McLaren replaces Mercedes-bound Lowe 25 Feb: 'Engine maps' trouble for Red Bull, Lotus - report 25 Feb: Mercedes-bound Lowe to miss 2013 opener - report 25 Feb: Mercedes 'in group of teams' behind Red Bull - Lauda 25 Feb: Gutierrez expects Hulkenberg to beat him early in 2013 25 Feb: New Ferrari 'much better' than 2012 - Massa 25 Feb: Teams 'will adapt' to new tyre situation - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Tight rules make today's F1 cars 'the same' - Forghieri 25 Feb: Williams removes controversial exhaust trick 25 Feb: Contract 'conflicts' cause of Marussia test snub - Razia 25 Feb: Lotus to fight Red Bull for title - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Marussia 'ahead of Caterham' - Chilton 25 Feb: Sutil will not stay in F1 as test driver The latest F1 News - Mobile Version