Thursday, February 7, 2013

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Jerez F1 Test 2013: DAY 3 - Jenson Button back in the cockpit of the MP4-28

Jenson returned to the cockpit this morning to complete his second day of running at Jerez, concluding his programme for this test.

As in previous days, the morning kicked off with further aero evaluation work – conducted over a number of shorter runs. The team then ran through a suite of larger mechanical changes in order to understand key changes in set-up – these were fully evaluated over a series of longer runs throughout the afternoon.

The team also conducted a number of live pitstops during the afternoon’s running.

Jenson made a precautionary stop on the track during the session’s dying minutes, and the car was recovered safely.

Location: Circuito de Jerez, Spain
Driver: Jenson Button
Track length: 4.428km
Laps: 83
Km covered: 368
Best laptime: 1m19.603s
Test dates: Four days (February 5-8)

What’s next?

Sergio returns tomorrow for the final day’s running. As before, he will conduct a mix of aero and mechanical work, also running through a similar series of larger mechanical changes in order to better understand the set-up characteristics of MP4-28.

DAY 3 Standings
Pos / Driver / Constructor / Best time / Laps

1 / Felipe Massa / Ferrari / 1m 17.879s / 85

2 / Nico Rosberg / Mercedes AMG / 1m 18.766s / 148

3 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Racing / 1m 19.052s / 102

4 / Kimi Raikkonen / Lotus-Renault / 1m 19.200s / 40

5 / Jean-Eric Vergne / Scuderia Toro Rossa / 1m 19.247s / 85

6 / James Rossiter / Force India / 1m 19.303s / 42

7 / Jenson Button / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 1m 19.603s / 83

8 / Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / 1m 19.934s / 110

9 / Max Chilton / Marussia / 1m 21.269s / 78

10 / Valtteri Bottas / Williams / 1m 21.575s / 86

11 / Charles Pic / Caterham / 1m 22.352s / 57

12 / Paul di Resta/ Force India / 1m 23.729s / 7

~ Official photo and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Detail: Jerez F1 Test 2013: DAY 3 - Jenson Button back in the cockpit of the MP4-28

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Jerez F1 Test 2013: DAY 3 - Nico Rosberg and the F1 W04 in top form

Nico Rosberg completed a successful third day of pre-season testing for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS today in Jerez, Spain. Following a difficult start to the week with limited mileage, Nico was today able to complete a total of 655 km – over two race distances - to make good progress through the team’s test items.

• Nico’s work today focused on reliability running to put mileage on the car and aerodynamic evaluations
• Nico ran the medium and hard compounds throughout the day, setting his fastest time on the medium tyres
• He evaluated a new front wing design this morning and ran with the new parts throughout the afternoon.
• His total number of laps exceeded the highest single-day total from last year’s pre-season test in Jerez (132 laps for Michael Schumacher on 8 February 2012 in the 2011 car)
• Nico also completed pit-stop practice during the final hour of today’s running

DAY 3 Statistics

DAY 3 Times

Lewis Hamilton will complete the fourth and final day of the test tomorrow.

Nico Rosberg: "I’m very happy with today and I think it was probably a personal record for me to do almost 150 laps. I’ve never been so well prepared physically as I am this season; I feel on top form and it was no problem to complete the programme. To drive the distance from Silverstone to Spa in one day with no problems whatsoever is a fantastic achievement from the team. It really made up for the last two days and put a smile on everybody’s face. In terms of driving the car, I have a good feeling, I can push it and feel comfortable - but obviously we still have plenty of work to do to continue improving."