The car was fastest throughout Barcelona testing with Vettel at the wheel. It won the first race of the season at Melbourne with Vettel, whilst Webber finished fifth. In the nineteen races of the 2011 season, the RB7 only failed to finish in the top five twice, when Mark Webber crashed out of the 2011 Italian Grand Prix and when Sebastian Vettel retired from the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.