Jenson Button began the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s 2012 pre-season testing programme at Jerez yesterday morning. The day started slowly, with Jenson and the team conducting a number of shorter runs, before completing a thorough systems check to ensure the car was running reliably.
Before lunchtime, however, the car was back on track as the team begun a number of longer runs lasting for the remainder of the day. These were useful in helping the team to begin measuring tyre-wear on Pirelli’s new-spec rubber and assessing the MP4-27’s fundamental handling characteristics over the course of a stint.
Following the day’s running, Jenson said: “It’s been a good day: this morning, we ran through our installation and systems checks and the running was good. We’ve been gathering data on aerodynamics, downforce levels, temperatures and the feeling inside the cockpit.
“We did a 15-lap timed run this afternoon, which is a good starting point for us – and the consistency was okay. It’s been a positive day: there are no niggly areas with the car, which is nice. Overall, today was just a starting point, and was all about putting miles on the car. There are some promising signs, so I’m happy.
“It’s now important for us to get a clean day of running tomorrow, put some miles on the car and find a direction that we like. Today’s a very good basis for the next few days.”
Today was Jenson’s second day of testing with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 and another day spent getting used to the new chassis and evaluating a series of braking, set-up and software changes made to the car – particularly the effect on balance and stability at both high and low speeds.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team manager David Redding said: “Despite the cold and windy conditions, Jenson was able to log further mileage with MP4-27 today. It’s still early days, and this was very much an exploratory day, but we were able to get a useful understanding of how the car behaves and reacts out on the track.
“It’s satisfying that Jenson’s been able to complete more than 600km of trouble-free running over the past two days; that puts us in a good position for the rest of the week.”
Tomorrow sees Lewis Hamilton continue the test programme on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27.
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