Button tops the charts in Barcelona

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5038242,00.html


Jenson Button continued Brawn GP's dream start, recording the fastest time on day three of testing in Barcelona.


The Briton was the only man to go below the one minute twenty second mark in overcast conditions, with a fastest lap of 1:19.127.


Button completed 124 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya as Brawn GP continued their impressive testing run, with Button having finished fourth in testing on Monday and Rubens Barrichello coming in third yesterday.


Felipe Massa's Ferrari was second quickest, over one second behind Button, despite spending a spell on the side of the track after suffering a a hydraulic problem.


Robert Kubica was happy with his return to action with BMW, clocking in the third best time of 1:20.217.


"Today was very productive," said the Pole.


"We tried various solutions we weren't able to complete last week in Jerez because of the unfortunate weather conditions. Obviously our main target today was to do a lot of evaluations for the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix," Kubica added.


Timo Glock in fourth place was hot on the heels of the BMW man, after a productive day of testing.



"This morning started well and we made it through a lot of set-up and comparisons in the course of the day. We found some different directions and overall it was a productive session," explained the German.


"Late on we had a slightly longer break so we couldn't quite finish our plan. But we should have enough data to investigate and make some positive steps for tomorrow."


One driver who did not have an enjoyable day at the track was World Champion Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton propping up the time charts.


Hamilton was two and a half seconds off the pace in a frustrating day that included a trip to the gravel trap.


Times
01. J. Button Brawn GP 1:19.127 124 laps
02. F. Massa Ferrari 1:20.168 109 laps
03. R. Kubica BMW 1:20.217 109 laps
04. T. Glock Toyota 1:20.410 99 laps
05. F. Alonso Renault 1:20.863 107 laps
06. S Vettel Red Bull 1:21.165 102 laps
07. N. Rosberg Williams 1:21.324 89 laps
08. G. Fisichella 1:21.545 97 laps
09. S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:21.569 140 laps
10. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:21.657 82 laps



Go Button!!!!!!!

 

Well Jim you've said it enough GO BUTTON that is!! and it's worked!!

I have a uneasy feeling that Mclaren will not like this prospect though.

However RB appears to have done his homework on this car last year..

 

I stood by him at his lowest times. Its good to see good things happen to a good guy.



Go Button! I just had to do that.

 

Could you imagine... Honda drops the team and then they're fighting for wins. You'd probably hear the collective "Ugh!!!!" from Honda headquarters all around the world.

 

Cool. I like the look of that dummy grid!

 

Well, getting rid of that Honda lump had to help. VTEC kickin' in, yo!

 

probably running light to attract sponsorship revenue

 

Ding ding! round 2, it's you up in the ring again Jim!!...

 

yup yup your right 124 lap of running light. Yup yup your right wow look at all the pretty colors another sock puppet account.

 

Yep, it's called just don't put the ballast in the car. Or they could be using some old Jordan stop watches!!! lol

 

That actually could be true. Nothing says cars have to be legal during testing.

However, they already have sponsorship lined up, so wasting testing time for that purpose seems counterproductive. I'm hoping the rule reset this year has helped level the playing field.

 

Sock puppet? Mods love to hear more about that.

However Button was running very light today when he set fastest lap (1 second faster than 2nd place). He was in qualifying trim.

That said, the Brawn is going spectacularly and they deserve a bit of the lime light. Might just attract some sponsors.

 

Just to put things in perspective, this was pulled from an article about the mid-season test in 2007

"Kimi Raikkonen led the testing times for day one at Barcelona, setting the fastest lap of 1m21.194s. Takuma Sato went a surprising second in his Super Aguri, pipping Pedro De La Rosa in the McLaren by a tenth."

 

+100
to 2 Mod's..

 

I'd agree no one is showing their cards just yet, but those Brawnda AMGs might become Team Seabiscuit this season....

 

I'm really rooting for JB and the Brawn GP team this year, and I hope they do really well with the new Mercedes engines. i would be quite happy to see Jenson near the front to take advantage of Hammy's mistakes, and the thought of the Mercedes customer team outshining McLaren is a happy one.

 

I know it's just testing, but Hamilton in last after over 80 laps?

 

I was reading F1 websites from other countries this morning about Brawn GP. According to some people, Brawn GP is going faster than the others because they're using better tires and less fuel to achieve great results which would eventually attract sponsors...But they say when it come to the real deal Brawn GP won't do so well. I guess we'll have to wait and see when the Championship really starts...I personally hope Button and Barrichello do well, because they've been driving awful cars on the last 3 championships. Anyway would any of you guys agree with that rumor though?

 

I don't know if they've got sponsorship deals yet, but it's certainly possible that they are doing everything they can to be quick to make sponsors believe they will be front runners and so get them more air time. Having said that a lot of development of this car was done last year and I imagine it will be fast, although having to use a new engine will no doubt have presented them with some design/development issues.

 

If you are testing or racing you have to still go thru tech. If the car is illegal or questionable, it is not allowed to run. Its not a uncontrolled free for all out there. Testing cost big dollars, to waste the time in todays economy just does not happen. Each day of testing has a script that has to be followed and reviewed and number crunched.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iTL9-SPWrIISuJAJ3p6E-KadTj0g

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/lewishamilton/4975036/Lewis-Hamilton-reverses-F1-fortunes-as-Jenson-Button-finishes-top.html

Go Button!

 

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090312.015/brawngp--jenson-button-stun-f1-by-smashing-pole-record-in-barcelona


I'm going to enjoy the glory as long as I can, as they say nothing last forever.


Go Button!

 

?

 

It sounds like some of our Fchat brothers are writing the articials.