Button Pleased with Performance

"I enjoyed my first real taste of the new circuit and I think it has a very good layout," said Button after posting the fifth fastest time.

"There are certain areas that are a little bit bumpy - especially braking into Turn 12, the last complex of corners - but generally it feels quite exciting to drive. 

"It will certainly be interesting in racing conditions, when the weather is expected to be much hotter than we've experienced here today. We completed our entire planned programme today and our performance was reasonably good, so I think that we should be able to expect a promising weekend ahead."

Button, looking for his fifth consecutive finish in the points, was the third fastest racing driver behind the McLaren's of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen.

Button's teammate Takuma Sato also enjoyed the new Istanbul circuit and finished down in 10th place.

"It was a good session today and it was exciting to be on a new and quite challenging circuit," said Sato. "I think that they have done a very good job with the track design.  We ran through our usual Friday programme with no issues, so it is now important for us to look at the data and discuss with Michelin where we go from here.

"We had relatively strong pace today which is a good sign for us for tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to it."