Jerez Test Day Three: Button Puts Brawn Back On Top

The third day of testing completed yesterday; the lateness of this post being put down to wanting a day off. But the news isn’t new – Jenson Button once again showed promise in the new Brawn BGP 001 by putting at the top of the timing sheet. Button completed 114 laps en route to the top and outclassed Nico Rosberg in the Williams by 0.2s. The Brawn was the only car yesterday (and of the test so far) to dip into the sub-77s lap times.

Nelson Piquet Jr. took over from team mate Fernando Alonso and posted a time similar to the Spaniard’s efforts on Monday. Piquet was the busiest driver of the day, completing 128 tours of Jerez and ending his off-season reasonably well. The true pace of the Renault is hard to judge as the team have been up and down all winter. However, the Brazilian was pleased with his and the team’s efforts.

My final day of testing went really well and I’m pleased that we were able to do so many laps. We were looking at the car’s aero performance today as well as doing some set-up work in preparation for the first race and overall we found a good balance with the car.

It was pretty windy, but the track conditions were good so we were able to get a lot done. I’m now ready for the season to start next week and I think as a team we can be happy with the work we’ve done over the winter. Nelson Piquet Jr.

The final position of the day went to Lewis Hamilton, who once again looked to be struggling with the MP4-24. Although the times set above Hamilton are pretty close together, the Briton was 0.8s slower than Piquet. The position isn’t the worry, it’s the difference to those ahead.

Jerez Test Day Three Results Table		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Jenson Button Brawn GP	1m17.844s	114 Laps
2.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m18.071s	66 Laps
3.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m18.382s	128 Laps
4.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m19.121s	118 Laps