Jerez Day 4: Button sets the fastest time of the fortnight

Jenson Button with his McLaren set the fastest time of the last two weeks in Jerez during the eighth and final day of testing at the Spanish site. The world champion achieved a time of 1:18.871 during a short stint this morning. Additionally, the teams enjoyed a rain-free day for the first time since the start of the week. Like most of his competitors, Button and McLaren set this time early in the session before moving on to longer runs with cars heavier on fuel.

Robert Kubica, following a similar tactic, takes second place for Renault, 0.243 seconds behind Button’s time. In contrast, Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber initially caused an early red flag but climbed to third place in the afternoon with a series of fast laps.

The Japanese is followed by Tonio Liuzzi (Force India), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Jaime Alguersuari for Toro Rosso takes seventh place.

Mark Webber lost several hours of his time in the Red Bull garage after his car stopped on the track. The team has yet to confirm the nature of the breakdown, but as a precaution, they changed the engine. The Australian driver eventually finished eighth.

Williams spent a large portion of the day on long runs. Nico Hülkenberg is only ninth on the timesheet but covered 137 laps despite stopping on the pit straight during the last hour.

The battle between the new teams has turned in favor of Timo Glock for Virgin, but Jarno Trulli and Lotus spent much more time on track. The German’s pace is promising. Glock was on par with the midfield teams from the start, but a hydraulic issue limited him to only 28 laps throughout the day. He ended his Jerez testing on a red flag by stopping on track in the last minute of the session.

Trulli is one second behind Glock and 4.5 seconds behind Button on his first day in the T127. He completed an impressive number of laps with 141 loops on the counter. That’s more than any other driver today without any notable issues. The team worked on long stints, acclimatization, and setup.

Join us at the end of next week for the final pre-season tests in Barcelona!

Result Private Tests Jerez – Day 4 – Saturday February 20, 2009: