F1: Button fastest on opening day of testing in Jerez

[Nik Hughes]

Jenson Button set the fastest time on Tuesday, as the first test of the 2013 season kicked off in Jerez. The 2009 champion ended the day 0.9 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, with Romain Grosjean's Lotus third.​

With every team but Williams arriving with their new chassis, it was a first chance to catch a glimpse of who had emerged from the winter break on top, and there were familiar faces heading the time charts.

Button's time came despite him only completing 37 laps – a fuel pump problem severely restricted the McLaren driver's time on track, and will lead to concerns that the reliability issues that hampered an inherently quick car last season are present in the new MP4-28.

It was even worse news at Mercedes, where Nico Rosberg's session was curtailed by an electrical problem that saw the German manage just eleven laps before his day came to a fiery end.

There were no such problems at Force India, where Paul di Resta completed 89 laps, finishing the day with the fourth quickest time, closely followed by Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciado, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.​

After revealing the Caterham alongside team-mate Charles Pic, Giedo van der Garde completed his first official day out in a Formula One car in eighth, ahead of fellow debutant Max Chilton, who ended his day in the gravel after an accident caused by a rear suspension problem.

The second day of testing gets under way at 08:00 GMT, with Lewis Hamilton making his first ever appearance in his new Mercedes.

Final lap times:

1 Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m18.861s 37 laps
2 Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1m19.709s 73

3 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1m19.796s 54

4 Paul di Resta (Force India) 1m20.343s 89

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) 1m20.401s 70

6 Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1m20.536s 64

7 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1m20.699s 79

8 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m20.846s 11

9 Pastor Maldonado (Williams) 1m20.864s 84

10 Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) 1m21.915s 64

11 Max Chilton (Marussia) 1m24.176s 29

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[Bram Hengeveld]

Will it finally be JB's year? Really hope so. Big fan of his driving style.

 

[Tom]

Will it finally be JB's year? Really hope so. Big fan of his driving style.

Well, 2009 was his year.

Then again, it's a bit worrying that the fuel pump is yet again causing issues. It's a new pump and a whole new car...how did they manage to carry this issue over?

 

[Carlos Luna]

Then again, it's a bit worrying that the fuel pump is yet again causing issues. It's a new pump and a whole new car...how did they manage to carry this issue over?

My thoughts exactly. It's barely the first day of testing and already they have a problem that gave them headaches last year. However, since it is only the first day of testing we can only hope they rectify the problem quickly.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Was Perez not driving this test?

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

I think I have a spare fuel pump from an old Audi Station Wagon in my garage. Will it fit?

 

[Carlos Luna]

I believe that Perez will be running tomorrow. Here's an breakdown of who will be testing and at what time:

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Thanks for that Carlos

 

[Nik Hughes]

I read that Alonso wasn't in Jerez yesterday, and although the BBC mentioned it was strange for the driver not driving to not even be there, I assumed he would be driving one day. Didn't realise he's not driving at all. Strange...

 

[Alex Townsend]

From Sky Sports F1

In total, Alonso is scheduled to be in action for just five of the 12 allotted days of winter testing. However, the two-times World Champion is convinced that his reduced workload will pay a long-term dividend as he seeks to avoid burnout from his hectic recent schedule.