Jerez Day 3: Button puts Brawn back on top

Jenson Button concluded the Brawn GP team's pre-season program in Jerez this afternoon, topping the timesheets on the final day of testing ahead of the new Formula One season.

Button's best lap of 1:17.844 was about half a second faster than the time set by Spain's two-time world champion Fernando Alonso when he broke Brawn's impressive testing form on Monday.

With seven valuable days of running completed with the BGP 001 car in Barcelona and Jerez, the team will now return to its Brackley base to complete the final preparations for the first race in Melbourne on 29 March. It cannot be overstated how key Ross Brawn was to the success of Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher days as he has taken an underperforming Honda team into now what appears to be the fastest car in F1, all in one year.

JENSON BUTTON
"We have had a very useful test in Jerez this week, particularly today where we have been able to fine-tune the set-up of the car to my liking ahead of the first race. Even after such a short testing program, I feel that we are ready for the challenge ahead in Melbourne, however we will still need every minute of the Friday practice sessions to make the most of our first race weekend."

ROSS BRAWN, Team Principal
"The conclusion of this week's test in Jerez brings our short pre-season testing program with the BGP 001 to a successful conclusion. Our program to date has been dominated by the requirement to prove the car's reliability however we are also pleased with the competitive lap times that we have seen from the car over the past two weeks. The test in Jerez has been particularly useful and allowed the drivers to complete valuable chassis set-up work and evaluate the Bridgestone Potenza tire compounds which we will use in Melbourne. I would like to thank the team and our drivers for all their hard work over the past few weeks as we look forward to the first race and the opportunity to finally see the car in action in a competitive environment."

Tuesday Test Times