Jerez Testing – Day 1: Button Puts His McLaren on Top

The first day of testing of the Formula 1 season, held at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain, began with the presentation of two single-seaters, the Marussia MR02 and the Caterham CT03.

At exactly 9 o’clock, the session began and the first single-seaters didn’t take long to hit the track, with Nico Hülkenberg being the first to take to the track at the wheel of the Sauber C32. The other cars followed on the track to complete an initial installation lap.

The first best time of the day was set by Felipe Massa in 1:35.607. After 30 minutes, the session was interrupted for the first time of the day following the stoppage on the track of Jenson Button’s McLaren MP4-28 due to a fuel pump problem. The Briton was stuck in the pits for 5 hours, but that didn’t prevent him from setting the best time of the day.

Two other drivers triggered red flags, Nico Rosberg around 10:30 a.m. was the first following an electrical problem. The German driver was unable to get back behind the wheel of the Mercedes, thus ending the day with only 14 laps completed. The third driver to cause a red flag was Max Chilton, who went off the track driving his Marussia around 3:40 p.m., damaging the right-rear suspension of the MR02.

On the endurance side, it was Paul di Resta who was the most diligent on track with 89 laps completed, ahead of Pastor Maldonado in a slightly revised 2012 Williams FW34, with the Venezuelan covering 84 laps. At the bottom of this ranking, we find the three drivers who caused a red flag: Nico Rosberg, Max Chilton, and Jenson Button. Following them is Romain Grosjean, who only covered “54” laps today.

If you want to know in detail what happened today, you can relive the live coverage of the day.

Ranking of the first day of private testing of the /f1/news/14932-marussia-presents-the-mr02.html season held in Jerez

From our special correspondent in Jerez