Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Jerez, Spain, Feb 11, 2011

Date - Friday February 11 2011
Driver - Jenson Button
Location - Circuito de Jerez
Track length - 4.423km
Weather - Another warm and sunny day. Maximum ambient temperature 18.9°C, maximum track temperature 32.2°C


Laps completed - 69
Kilometres covered - 256km
Best laptime - 1m21.009s at 15:22

Programme

This was Jenson’s first day with the MP4-26. As yesterday, when Lewis drove the car for the first time, the morning was largely spent acclimatising to the new car, finding a perfect fit and making small improvements to driver ergonomics and comfort.

After another lunchtime strip-down, the engineers began a more concerted programme of running in the afternoon – albeit one punctuated by several lengthy red-flag stoppages.

At the end of the day, the team evaluated a number of further set-up changes, leaving Jenson – like Lewis - feeling positive about the 26’s potential. These changes will be further pursued when Jenson returns to the car on Sunday.

Jenson said: “The morning was spent getting me satisfactorily fitted in the car, adapting to the hybrid – which is new to me – and getting used to how the system works. I like the power boost it gives you.

“I felt a lot more comfortable with the car at the end of the day after we’d played around with a few things in the cockpit. We’ve made some good progress.

“And we’ve tried the different Pirelli tyres – there are big differences across the compound range; not only in terms of laptime, but also with degradation and durability. It’s going to be fun for racing, I think, and it’s what everyone wanted. The TV viewers will certainly know the differences between the tyres.

“It’s been a good first day. On Sunday, I hope we can start to have a crack at seeing what the car really has in it.

Lewis returns to the cockpit on Saturday.

Driver for day three - Lewis Hamilton
Duration of test - Four days (February 10-13)