Horner happy with performance

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner branded his team's session-topping debut at Albert Park as "a great start for everyone involved" after seeing all three cars finish in the top ten in Friday's opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix.

Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi finished fastest of the 18 drivers who took to the track in the hour-long session while Scot David Coulthard finished fifth and Australian Chrsitian Klien claimed tenth spot.

Horner, who took over from Tony Purnell soon after energy drinks company Red Bull bought the old Jaguar Racing team from Ford, said: "It is a great start for Vitantonio, for the team and for me in Formula One.

"Obviously we are all very happy, even if it doesn't really mean anything. Each driver was on a different programme and none of them had any problems, so it all went very well."

Horner joined Red Bull after successfully running his own Arden Racing team in the now-defunct Formula 3000 category, where he helped Liuzzi to win the title in impressive style last season.

Liuzzi almost secured a race seat alongside Coulthard over the winter after signing with the team on an identical contract to Klien but missed out partially because Klien would not have been eligible to take part in Friday testing.

It is clear, however, that Horner continues to be impressed by Liuzzi's performance at the wheel of the new Red Bull and he has already admitted that there could be a race driver change at any point in the season.

The Italian driver finished more than half a second faster than second-placed McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa on Friday morning and Horner added: "It was very nice to see him on top of the timesheets again.

"He was up there at the sharp end all last year and it is where I am used to seeing him -- but the names that sit behind him are a bit better known this season."

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- The Autosport.com Team

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