01/03/2012
NEWS STORY
Jenson Button leads the way as drivers break for lunch on the first day of the final pre-season test, ahead of Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber.
In ideal conditions, the ten drivers on duty have thus far completed 488 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya, around 1,400 miles.
One of the busiest men has been Sergio Perez, however, the Mexican stopped for lunch a little earlier than planned, his Sauber stopping out on track (Turn 7) shortly before the chequered flag.
The Sauber driver looked set to be the morning pace-setter, however, Button's 1:23.510, posted around ninety minutes before lunch, demoted the Mexican to second.
Interestingly, Button's time was set on hards while Perez was on mediums when he posted his best time. However, as ever, little can be read into the times at present what with so many unknowns in terms of fuel loads and the like.
Lotus has shown no ill affects after last week's problems, and while Grosjean has only completed 36 laps thus far, the Enstone outfit is satisfied with progress. The Frenchman's apparent lack of running (36 laps) is due to the fact that the team ran with sensor equipment on the car early on, admitting that it takes "a bit of time" to remove. "All part of the plan," the team tweeted.
Kovalainen, who was meant to be on duty for Caterham, has been sidelined by a bout of food poisoning, meaning that Petrov has been called up a couple of days early.
A number of drivers, most notably Massa, Webber and Petrov, have concentrated on longer runs this morning, while all four (slick) compounds have seen action. That said, only Petrov has used the super-softs thus far.
Mid-Sessions Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Button | McLaren | 27 | 1:23.510 | 124.694 mph |
| Perez | Sauber | 57 | 1:23.820 | 0.310 |
| Grosjean | Lotus | 36 | 1:23.959 | 0.449 |
| Rosberg | Mercedes | 57 | 1:23.992 | 0.482 |
| Webber | Red Bull | 53 | 1:23.993 | 0.483 |
| Vergne | Toro Rosso | 61 | 1:24.216 | 0.706 |
| Di Resta | Force India | 48 | 1:24.305 | 0.795 |
| Massa | Ferrari | 45 | 1:24.318 | 0.808 |
| Petrov | Caterham | 67 | 1:24.876 | 1.366 |
| Maldonado | Williams | 37 | 1:25.587 | 2.077 |
Check out our Thursday gallery, here. More pictures to follow.