Jenson Button set the fastest time on day three of testing in Barcelona, with Lewis Hamilton coming last.
Button goes fastest in new Brawn car, Hamilton finishes last in testing
Jenson Button continued Brawn GP's dream start, recording the fastest time on day three of testing in Barcelona, while McLaren's woes continued with Lewis Hamilton finishing last.
Button was the only man to go below the one minute twenty second mark in overcast conditions, with a fastest lap of 1:19.127.
Button completed 124 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya as Brawn GP continued their impressive testing run, with Button having finished fourth in testing on Monday and Rubens Barrichello coming in third on Tuesday.
Felipe Massa's Ferrari was second quickest, over one second behind Button, despite spending a spell on the side of the track after suffering a hydraulic problem.
"It's so good to have achieved a full day's running, including a race distance, without any issues and it's fantastic that we clocked up so much mileage," said Button.
"After the challenges we have faced, to come here and get off to such an encouraging start is just what we all needed and I can't thank the team enough."
Off the pace
One driver who did not have an enjoyable day at the track however was world champion Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton propping up the time charts.
Hamilton was two-and-a-half seconds off the pace in a frustrating day that included a trip to the gravel trap, as McLaren continue to struggle for pace.
"I don't know if they have a problem or not and what they are doing. Let's wait a few weeks and we will know where they are in the first race," Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen said.
"They haven't probably been as quick as in the past winter but that doesn't mean that they won't be fast in the first race."
Robert Kubica was happy with his return to action with BMW, clocking the third best time of the day with his mark of 1:20.217.
"Today was very productive," said the Pole.
"We tried various solutions we weren't able to complete last week in Jerez because of the unfortunate weather conditions. Obviously our main target today was to do a lot of evaluations for the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix," Kubica added.
Glock on
Timo Glock in fourth place was hot on the heels of the BMW man, after a productive day of testing.
"This morning started well and we made it through a lot of set-up and comparisons in the course of the day. We found some different directions and overall it was a productive session," explained the German.
"Late on we had a slightly longer break so we couldn't quite finish our plan. But we should have enough data to investigate and make some positive steps for tomorrow."
Renault's former world champion Fernando Alonso completed the top-five, and he believes McLaren's struggle is a sign of things to come.
"I think it's not any more just Ferrari-McLaren domination," Alonso said. "This year the fight will be very difficult."
