After three pre-season tests, one in Jerez and two in Barcelona, the RB8 arrived at the opening round of the 2012 Formula One season and its first race - the . Webber and Vettel qualified the car on the third row of the grid, setting the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively. During the race their pace improved in comparison to the other cars, allowing Vettel to finish second, and Webber fourth. At the following round, in Malaysia, the cars had a similar qualifying performance to Australia, but wet weather prevented them from replicating the previous race result. Vettel, running in fourth place with a handful of laps to go, was involved in a collision which resulted in a puncture, placing him outside the points. Webber inherited the fourth place. The had a difficult qualifying in store for the RB8, in which Webber was seventh and Vettel ended up down in eleventh place. The two drivers gained places in the race though, with Webber overtaking Vettel on the final lap to take fourth place, leaving Vettel fifth.