Jenson Button sets fastest time in opening F1 test

McLaren and Jenson Button have fired the first shot of 2013, topping the times in Formula 1’s official opening test at Jerez.

The 2009 world champion battled with fuel pump issues early in the day and remained on the sidelines for much of the day. After the team fixed the problem, the Brit set the fastest time in the final minutes of the session, clocking a 1m18.861s on Pirelli’s new hard compound tyres.

Button was more than 0.8s clear of Australian Mark Webber, after the Red Bull also put in a number of flying laps towards the end of the session. Webber ended the day with a 1m19.709s.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was the morning pacesetter but wouldd finish the day third ahead of Force India’s Paul di Resta and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was eighth fastest but his day ended early with an electrical failure. The team pulled the pin on the day as it waited for new parts to arrive from its factory. New team recruit Lewis Hamilton will drive the car tomorrow.

Day 1, F1 pre-season test, Jerez

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	Jenson Button	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	1m 18.861s	37
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1m 19.709s	73
3	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1m 19.796s	54
4	Paul di Resta	Force India	1m 20.343s	89
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rossa	1m 20.401s	70
6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1m 20.536s	64
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	1m 20.699s	79
8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	1m 20.846s	11
9	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1m 20.864s	84
10	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	1m 21.915s	64
11	Max Chilton	Marussia	1m 24.176s	29

 

 Here is the Foxsports News report from the opening day of testing