The first on-track action for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix got underway today at the impressive new Yas Marina Circuit.

With the final race of the season due to be Formula One’s first day/night race, today’s first practice session began at 1300 with the second session taking place from 1700, the same time as the race will start on Sunday.

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello completed 59 laps and 61 laps respectively of the 5.554km circuit over the course of the two ninety-minute sessions ending the day in third and eighth positions on the timesheets.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 20 laps 01:44.035 P2 39 laps 01:41.541 P3
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-03 23 laps 01:44.207 P4 38 laps 01:41.831 P8

Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 30-35°C Track: 31-48°C

JENSON BUTTON
“The Yas Marina circuit is certainly an interesting one. When you look at the layout, it doesn’t seem that exciting but when you actually drive it, it’s fantastic. The track has a bit of everything with high and low speed corners, positive and negative camber and the walls are pretty close to you most of the way round. We had a good first day of practice here with just a few balance issues to work on overnight.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“First of all, I’m really pleased with the new track here in Abu Dhabi. The venue looks sensational and it’s quite challenging to drive which makes it a lot more fun for the drivers. The car felt good here over the two sessions and we were able to make several improvements over the course of the day. I’m quite happy with the balance and looking forward to tomorrow.”

ROSS BRAWN
“The Yas Marina Circuit is a stunning facility and a massive credit to Abu Dhabi, Bernie, Philippe Gurdjian and the team behind it. The track layout is very interesting with some good combinations and quite challenging for the drivers. They seem to be enjoying the experience. We are pleased with how our practice programme went today. The track was very dirty at the start of the first session with high track temperatures but it was a good opportunity for the drivers to familiarise themselves with the new track. The temperatures fell dramatically going into the second session which is consistent with what we expect to see in qualifying and into the race so we worked through our usual Friday programme with the tyres and aerodynamic set-up collecting some good data.”

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2009 Abu Dhabi GP – Practice

Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button began the team’s on-track preparations for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in the city of Sao Paulo today.

With the team’s focus on maximising the set-up of the BGP 001 cars for the race, Rubens and Jenson evaluated a number of different set-up options and tyre evaluations working with the Bridgestone Potenza prime and option tyres.

The morning practice session took place with light rain developing into a brief heavier shower thirty minutes into the session which kept the cars in the garage for a short while. The afternoon session was largely dry allowing the team to successfully complete the majority of today’s planned programme.

Rubens completed 70 laps ending the day in third position at his home track, with Jenson totaling 74 laps in fifth position.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“Our focus today was on evaluating our set-up for the race and whilst the times may not have always looked competitive, the data that we gathered will be very useful when we study all the options this evening. The car felt better when we put the softer option tyre on towards the end of the day and I was able to put in a good lap. It’s great to finally get the track action underway today and I’m pleased with our progress and happy to be starting my home Grand Prix weekend at the top end of the field.”

JENSON BUTTON
“We achieved more running that we initially expected today with just a few little showers rather than the rain that was forecast. The car seems to be working well on the prime tyre which is encouraging and the pace was good. I’m struggling a little with the balance on the option tyre over one timed lap so hopefully we can resolve that overnight to be ready for qualifying.”

ROSS BRAWN
“We had two good practice sessions today and are reasonably happy with our position at the end of the day. The balance of the cars improved this afternoon and both Rubens and Jenson are fairly comfortable with the set-up over longer runs. We still have some work to do overnight and ahead of qualifying to ensure that we achieve the best one-lap pace tomorrow.”

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Brazilian GP – Friday Practice

The first of the practice sessions for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix got underway today with rain showers impacting on the amount of track time for all of the teams around the 5.897km Suzuka circuit.

The morning practice session started on a wet track which began to dry out as the session progressed to allow Jenson and Rubens to run on both the Bridgestone wet and intermediate tyres. Whilst limiting their laps, both drivers concentrated on finding a balance in the wet conditions with Rubens completing 19 laps and Jenson totaling 17 laps.

The afternoon practice session proved to be largely a washout with heavy showers leading to a saturated track and keeping the two Brawn-Mercedes cars in the garage for the duration of the ninety-minutes.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-03 19 laps 01:41.821 P9 No time
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 17 laps 01:43.318 P18 No time

Weather Overcast with rain showers
Temperatures Air: 21-22°C Track: 23-22°C

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“As we expected, the rain came to Suzuka today and it led to an unusually quiet opening day of practice. The morning session wasn’t too bad but the rain this afternoon was heavy enough to create small rivers on parts of the track and there was nothing to be gained by going out. The limited running makes for a much more interesting and challenging day tomorrow however as getting the right set-up quickly will be very important. Whether it proves to be dry or wet tomorrow, we will need to study the data from today and be focused tomorrow morning to ensure we are well prepared for qualifying.”

JENSON BUTTON
“I feel sorry for the fans at Suzuka today but unfortunately we can’t get any useful information in these conditions with so much water on the track. We spent the morning session working on the balance of the car with the wet and intermediate tyres to ensure that we are prepared if the same wet weather does continue over the weekend. It was important to achieve some running and it feels good to be back at Suzuka. This is a great drivers’ track so hopefully we’ll get some dry running tomorrow.”

ROSS BRAWN
“The weather conditions impacted on our practice plans today as the wet track meant that we opted for a reduced programme. We completed an installation run on the wet weather tyres this morning before Jenson and Rubens switched to intermediates as the track started to dry out over the course of the session. With a heavy downpour between the two sessions, the condition of the track deteriorated further. As the weather forecast shows a dry qualifying and race and with limited wet weather tyres, we felt that there was nothing further to be learnt from running again this afternoon.”

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2009 Japanese GP – Friday Practice

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello took to the track under the floodlights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore this evening for the first of the practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The first practice session got underway at 18:00hrs in relative daylight which darkened over the course of the ninety minutes. Running with the Brawn-Mercedes cars in a high downforce configuration suited to the demands of the slow and twisty nature of the 23-turn circuit, Jenson and Rubens worked through a series of set-up evaluations with Rubens topping the timesheets at the end of the session and Jenson in second position.

The second session took place in full darkness at 21:30hrs with the Brawn GP drivers focusing on an evaluation of the soft and super soft Bridgestone Potenza tyre compounds available for this race weekend.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 22 laps 01:50.356 P2 34 laps 01:49.311 P5
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-03 19 laps 01:50.179 P1 30 laps 01:49.616 P11

Weather Hot and humid – Max 71.9% humidity
Temperatures Air: 30-31°C Track: 29-34°C

JENSON BUTTON
“It’s great to be back in Singapore this weekend and everyone is really enjoying the challenge of the night race and adjusting to our different working hours. We had a pretty full-on evening with a busy programme of set-up evaluations and tyre testing. This venue is a tough one with the heat and humidity to contend with and the nature of the circuit and the closeness of the barriers demand your total concentration. The key is achieving consistently quick laps and that’s what we’ve been working on today. The car feels reasonable and with some more work later tonight, we should be ready for a good weekend.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“The car is feeling pretty good here after the first practice sessions and we’re pleased with the work that we achieved. It was really busy out there today with traffic affecting our programme a little, particularly in the second session, but that was the same for everyone really. We’ve been focusing on our pace for Sunday and that’s the most important consideration as we need the car well balanced to be quick in the race. I’m feeling positive and we should be able to achieve the right set-up ready for the weekend. It’s so different to the rest of the year to be racing here at night and it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

ROSS BRAWN
“Following on from its successful debut last year, Singapore is once again proving to be a fantastic race venue and the whole team are enjoying the unusual hours that we are working and adjusting our race weekend programme to suit the particular demands of the night race. Looking at the first track activity today, we’re pleased with how the two practice sessions went. Both Jenson and Rubens are feeling comfortable with the car and the reliable running throughout both sessions has provided us with a wealth of data to study into the early hours of the morning. This is a circuit which should suit our car provided we get the balance and set-up right for qualifying tomorrow so we’re looking forward to the challenge of the weekend.”

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2009 Singapore GP – Friday Practice

The first of the practice running for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix got underway today at the Monza circuit in northern Italy.

Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button used the two ninety-minute sessions to evaluate their Brawn-Mercedes cars in the low downforce configuration required at the fastest circuit on the Formula One calendar.

Rubens completed 59 laps over the course of the day with Jenson totalling 53 laps as the pair focused on set-up work and an evaluation of the two Bridgestone Potenza tyre compounds available this weekend.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-03 24 laps 01:24.826 P12 35 laps 01:25.140 P16
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 21 laps 01:24.706 P7 32 laps 01:25.424 P19

Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 25-28°C Track: 28-41°C

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“Our programme went pretty much as planned today with the performance of the car as we were expecting. Our set-up work was focused on long runs and I’m fairly happy with how the car feels and with the braking stability. We have some work to do on the balance but overall a good start to the weekend although today’s running doesn’t really give us an indication of how qualifying will play out tomorrow.”

JENSON BUTTON
“We did a lot of set-up work today with the car in the low downforce configuration although we had a couple of issues which meant that I couldn’t do the long runs that we had planned so that was a bit frustrating. Everything was sorted out by the end of the day which is good but we have a lot of work ahead of us. It feels very different running with such low downforce but the car has been performing reasonably well. We need to work on the fine-tuning of the set-up overnight to ensure that I’m completely happy with the balance before qualifying.”

ROSS BRAWN
“With Monza being such a unique low downforce circuit and the fact that we haven’t had the opportunity to here test this year, today’s practice sessions were particularly important to work on the set-up of the car. Our main focus has been on race preparation to ensure that we understand how the car feels with the low downforce. We’re reasonably happy with our progress over the course of the day and looking forward to the weekend ahead.”

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2009 Italian Grand Prix Practice

The infamous Spa weather lived up to expectations today with the first of the practice sessions for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix taking place in very different conditions as Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello took to the race track again just five days after the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The first practice session this morning began on a dry track but was interrupted after just thirty minutes by a rain shower which sent all the cars back into the pits. As the rain intensified over the remaining hour of the session, Jenson and Rubens went out on the Bridgestone Potenza wet tyres to get some valuable wet weather track time ahead of the weekend.

By contrast, the afternoon practice session proved fine and dry, enabling the team to make good progress with the planned Friday programme. With the focus on aerodynamic, downforce and tyre comparisons, Jenson and Rubens collected some useful data to help refine the set-up of the car overnight ahead of Saturday’s qualifying hour.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 18 laps 01:50.283 P2 34 laps 01:48.125 P17
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-03 18 laps 01:52.321 P6 37 laps 01:48.130 P18

Weather Rain in the morning, dry and sunny afternoon
Temperatures Air: 14-18°C Track: 16-34°C

JENSON BUTTON
“It was a tough session this morning as we weren’t able to get much done apart from some wet running at the end. However that experience is good here just in case it rains over the weekend which is always possible at Spa. The second session this afternoon was much more useful. We worked through a few aero and downforce comparisons as well as looking at the tyres. We collected a lot of information but obviously at the moment we’re not as quick as we would like to be. There are a few areas that we do need to improve on with the balance but the potential is there to do that ahead of qualifying.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“We got through a lot of work today which sets the weekend up nicely. There is still some way to go to realise the full potential of the car but as always on a Friday, the lap times don’t tell the whole story. It was pretty useful to get some wet running in this morning just in case the weather plays a part in qualifying or the race. The car doesn’t feel as competitive as it did in Valencia last weekend but we’re going to be in a good position to fight hard in qualifying tomorrow.”

ROSS BRAWN
“A good start to the weekend and we were able to achieve much of our planned testing programme despite the interruptions from the weather this morning. We’re not experiencing any issues with tyre temperatures so far which is positive and it’s good to see our hard work in this area starting to pay dividends. There is still some way to go to maximise the set-up of the car to the requirements of both drivers so it will be a busy hour of practice tomorrow morning to get ready for qualifying.”

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Belgian GP 2009 – Practice

Formula One returned to action today at the Valencia Street Circuit in Spain for the first day of practice ahead of Sunday’s European Grand Prix. Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello completed a busy programme in the two practice sessions which took place in perfect summer conditions around the Juan Carlos I Marina.

After intensive work at the factory following the summer shutdown, the team’s focus today was on making the most of the available track time to validate some of the conclusions reached on the performance of the car. Both drivers followed very similar programmes evaluating a range of set-up options and working with the soft and super soft tyre compounds.

Jenson completed 52 laps to finish the afternoon in second position whilst Rubens completed 53 laps and finished in third place after topping the timesheets in the morning session.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 19 laps 01:43.074 P4 33 laps 01:40.178 P2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 19 laps 01:42.460 P1 34 laps 01:40.209 P3

Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 25-30°C Track: 28-50°C

JENSON BUTTON
“We’ve had a reasonably good first day of practice and it’s encouraging to see that the car seems to be on the pace again. The focus of our programme was on set-up checks and back-to-back evaluations to confirm that the work done back at the factory after our shutdown was in the right direction. There is still some work needed on the set-up before qualifying as I’m not completely happy with the balance but all in all the pace of the car seems reasonably good.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“It feels great to be back to what seems to be a competitive level of pace. The two practice sessions today went well with a lot of work achieved on both sides of the garage. I’m pretty happy with the data that we collected and with the way that the car developed over the course of the day. If we can continue in this direction then it should be a good weekend.”

ROSS BRAWN
“We’ve had a good start to the weekend today with two strong practice sessions. The track temperatures are very high here, reaching 50°C this afternoon, so we have been able to manage our tyre temperatures well and not encounter the issues which have hampered our pace at the past few races. Both drivers followed very similar programmes as we revisited some set-ups from previous races as test items to increase our understanding of the car’s performance. The initial feedback is that Jenson and Rubens are broadly in agreement on the direction that we should follow from here. and we’ve pleased to have collected so much data to apply here and take onto the next race in Spa. Overall it’s been a positive beginning to the weekend.”

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2009 European Grand Prix – Practice

Friday’s practice session times show that McLaren may have finally achieved the changes they were aiming for, with a consistently high quality performance in all three practice sessions.  BrawnGP weren’t as quick but stayed in a steady position around half way through the pack.   Newcomer Alguersuari for Toro Rosso remained towards the bottom of the times but used all the session time to get in plenty of practice for his first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Hungarian Grand Prix free practice session one

1.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren       1m22.278s
2.  ROSBERG       Williams      1m22.337s
3.  HAMILTON      McLaren       1m22.554s
4.  WEBBER        Red Bull      1m22.615s
5.  NAKAJIMA      Williams      1m22.619s
6.  TRULLI        Toyota        1m22.705s
7.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari       1m22.796s
8.  MASSA         Ferrari       1m22.855s
9.  ALONSO        Renault       1m23.001s
10. BUTTON        Brawn         1m23.130s
11. KUBICA        BMW           1m23.146s
12. HEIDFELD      BMW           1m23.154s
13. BARRICHELLO   Brawn         1m23.209s
14. GLOCK         Toyota        1m23.234s
15. VETTEL        Red Bull      1m23.283s
16. FISICHELLA    Force India   1m23.484s
17. PIQUET        Renault       1m23.678s
18. SUTIL         Force India   1m23.845s
19. BUEMI         Toro Rosso    1m23.998s
20. ALGUERSUARI   Toro Rosso    1m24.228s

Hungarian Grand Prix free practice session two

1.  HAMILTON      McLaren       1m22.079s
2.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren       1m22.126s
3.  ROSBERG       Williams      1m22.154s
4.  WEBBER        Red Bull      1m22.369s
5.  NAKAJIMA      Williams      1m22.426s
6.  VETTEL        Red Bull      1m22.550s
7.  BARRICHELLO   Brawn         1m22.641s
8.  TRULLI        Toyota        1m22.663s
9.  HEIDFELD      BMW           1m22.690s
10. GLOCK         Toyota        1m22.751s
11. RAIKKONEN     Ferrari       1m22.763s
12. ALONSO        Renault       1m22.793s
13. BUTTON        Brawn         1m22.806s
14. KUBICA        BMW           1m22.870s
15. PIQUET        Renault       1m22.927s
16. SUTIL         Force India   1m22.978s
17. FISICHELLA    Force India   1m23.029s
18. MASSA         Ferrari       1m23.156s
19. BUEMI         Toro Rosso    1m23.176s
20. ALGUERSUARI   Toro Rosso    1m23.942s

Hungarian Grand Prix free practice session three

1.  HAMILTON      McLaren       1m21.009s
2.  HEIDFELD      BMW           1m21.408s
3.  ROSBERG       Williams      1m21.509s
4.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren       1m21.655s
5.  BUEMI         Toro Rosso    1m21.800s
6.  GLOCK         Toyota        1m21.849s
7.  MASSA         Ferrari       1m21.911s
8.  NAKAJIMA      Williams      1m21.935s
9.  WEBBER        Red Bull      1m21.936s
10. VETTEL        Red Bull      1m21.971s
11. KUBICA        BMW           1m22.076s
12. TRULLI        Toyota        1m22.097s
13. BARRICHELLO   Brawn         1m22.101s
14. PIQUET        Renault       1m22.210s
15. RAIKKONEN     Ferrari       1m22.270s
16. ALONSO        Renault       1m22.274s
17. BUTTON        Brawn         1m22.312s
18. ALGUERSUARI   Toro Rosso    1m22.391s
19. FISICHELLA    Force India   1m22.684s
20. SUTIL         Force India   1m23.231s

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Hungarian Grand Prix Friday Practice Times

In hot and sunny conditions, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button completed a busy Friday testing programme with their Brawn-Mercedes cars which feature a number of aerodynamic upgrades this weekend. In addition to running the new aero parts on track for the first time, the pair focused on an evaluation of the two Bridgestone Potenza tyres for this race, the soft compound prime tyre and the super soft option tyre.

Rubens and Jenson completed 129 laps of the 4.381km Hungaroring during today’s two sessions, successfully working through their planned programmes and collecting valuable data to give the team a good start going into the weekend.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 24 laps 01:23.209 P13 38 laps 01:22.641 P7
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 25 laps 01:23.130 P10 42 laps 01:22.806 P13

Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 24-29°C Track: 30-47°C

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“Our programme today was to work with the two tyre compounds to fully understand their working range and the impact on the set-up and balance of the car. Most of my day was focused on evaluating the prime tyre which proved not have a great deal of grip so it was important to establish some set-up assumptions. We then tried the option tyre later this afternoon which seemed to be quicker. Overall I’m pretty happy with our progress today.”

JENSON BUTTON
“It’s been a much better Friday for us than at the last couple of races. Obviously the temperatures are higher here which works in our favour and we have some good aerodynamic updates to the car for this race. We achieved a lot of important work today with the tyres and whilst we have some way to go to get them working at their optimum, it’s a good start to the weekend.”

ROSS BRAWN
“A productive day for us today and we’re pleased with the amount of set-up work that we have been able to achieve over the two sessions. The initial feedback from the performance improvements that we’ve brought to this race looks positive and both Rubens and Jenson were happy with the progress made. The temperatures were pretty much as we expected with the hot and sunny conditions enabling us to make reasonable use of the tyres and develop our understanding of their performance characteristics. We will now look through the data this evening to ensure we are ready for qualifying, which is crucial here as there are limited overtaking opportunities, but overall a positive start to our weekend.”

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2009 Hungarian GP Practice – Official Brawn GP Review

After a 3 week break from racing the German Grand prix practice sessions shows some surprises.  In the first practice it was business as usual with Red Bull and Brawn at the top of the times, but in Practice 2 Hamilton put the McLaren in no1.  It will be great to see it the McLaren is as competitive throughout the weekend!

German Grand Prix free practice session one

1. WEBBER Red Bull 1m33.082s
2. BUTTON Brawn 1m33.463s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.745s
4. TRULLI Toyota 1m33.795s
5. FISICHELLA Force India 1m33.839s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.840s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m33.902s
8. VETTEL Red Bull 1m33.909s
9. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m33.952s
10. ALONSO Renault 1m34.148s
11. HEIDFELD BMW 1m34.221s
12. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m34.227s
13. HAMILTON McLaren 1m34.483s
14. KUBICA BMW 1m34.694s
15. PIQUET Renault 1m34.738s
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m34.827s
17. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m34.878s
18. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m34.893s
19. GLOCK Toyota 1m34.911s
20. SUTIL Force India 1m35.092s

German Grand Prix free practice session two

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m32.149s
2. VETTEL Red Bull 1m32.331s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m32.369s
4. WEBBER Red Bull 1m32.480s
5. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.511s
6. SUTIL Force India 1m32.585s
7. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m32.664s
8. ALONSO Renault 1m32.774s
9. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m32.872s
10. PIQUET Renault 1m32.992s
11. HEIDFELD BMW 1m33.012s
12. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.052s
13. ROSBERG Williams 1m33.128s
14. KUBICA BMW 1m33.161s
15. GLOCK Toyota 1m33.172s
16. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.182s
17. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m33.724s
18. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m33.903s
19. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m34.025s
20. FISICHELLA Force India 1m38.877s

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German Grand Prix Friday Practice times