Barcelona 4: Button's record

Button's time came after a day of tyre testing in the hybrid car, and was nearly a second ahead of Michael Schumacher's best. "Today the programme was tyre testing, so we were mainly doing long runs," Button told autosport.com. "We did lots of long runs, but only one quick lap.

"It was the first quick lap we've done in the hybrid car, and we were reasonably happy with it! The car was not nervous at all. It was alright. In the afternoon we did lots of long runs without interruption, so we're very happy."

Ferrari ace Schumacher was back in the cockpit for the first day since the Japanese Grand Prix last year, immediately going quicker than the hitherto all-conquering Williams duo. Michael was driving last year's car, of course.

His brother, who hadn't even seen Michael since that Suzuka race, was still positive about the new FW26: "This is the best Williams I have ever driven. I've never had such a good start to a season."

Most runners had trouble-free days, with Montoya completing a race simulation and delighted with the lack of red flags. A great deal of tyre testing was completed by most of the drivers, which included Nick Heidfeld, who did an afternoon's work for Jordan. Timo Glock was in the car this morning, and also had an uneventful time of it.

Fernando Alonso was third quickest in the new Renault, clocking 102 laps. Franck Montagny helped him out, driving the older car.

Olivier Panis was none too pleased with the new Toyota today: "It doesn't have enough grip or downforce. I think the aerodynamics need work. But the base of the car is good and I think [technical director] Mike Gascoyne being here gives us plenty of reason for optimism. We should have some new aero parts for the next Barcelona test in February."



Jenson Button (BAR-Honda) 1m14.607s 85
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1m15.410s 95
Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1m15.505s 102*
Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) 1m15.736s 63*
Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1m15.767s 86
Marc Gene (Williams-BMW) 1m15.820s 46
Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1m16.251s 97*
Olivier Panis (Toyota) 1m16.507s 98*
Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas) 1m16.529s 66*
Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) 1m16.560s 90
Mark Webber (Jaguar) 1m17.173s 144
Franck Montagny (Renault) 1m17.447s 130
Nick Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford) 1m17.530s 49
Christian Klien (Jaguar) 1m18.029s 46*
Ryan Briscoe (Toyota) 1m18.106s 62
Timo Glock (Jordan-Ford) 1m18.236s 36

* denotes 2004 car