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Barca update: Brawn GP hits the ground running
Monday 9th March 2009
Jenson Button hit the ground running as he showed off the new Brawn GP car to the public for the first time at Barcelona on Monday morning.
The week's action began under dark clouds with a light drizzle falling over the circuit, forcing the drivers to venture out on intermediate tyres. After an hour, though, the rain cleared up and the sun came out, quickly drying out the track, allowing the drivers to put on the slicks.
Two teams, Brawn GP and Toro Rosso, debuted their new cars this morning, both cutting it fine as this week's test is the second last before the new in-season test ban kicks in. As such both were eager to get in as many laps as possible with Jenson Button completing 30 laps while Seb Bourdais amassed 45X.
Button and his BGP01 were quick out the box, with the Brit hovering around the top three times for much of the morning's session. Half an hour before lunch Button even managed to put his BGP01 into first place with a 1:21.140, finishing ahead of Jarno Trulli and Nelson Piquet Jr.
Meanwhile at the other end of the timesheets lay Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen. Heidfeld, though, missed out on much of the morning's session as he was forced into the team's garage after completing just one installation lap. It is not known the cause of the problem, however, his mechanics worked furiously to ensure that he made it back out onto the track.
Kovalainen and McLaren will be concerned to find themselves languishing at the bottom of the timesheets after 54 laps. Trying out a new 2009-spec rear wing, Kovalainen struggled for pace and was just over three seconds down on Button's P1 time.
Times
01. J. Button Brawn GP 1:21.140
02. J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.794
03. N. Piquet Jr. Renault 1:22.008
04. A. Sutil Force India 1:22.452
05. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso 1:22.660
06. M. Webber Red Bull Racing 1:22.679
07. K. Nakajima Williams 1:22.813
08. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:22.869
09. N. Heidfeld BMW 1:23.605
10. H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:24.289
:D Even just for show, thats still awesome! :D
Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it