Button happy with progress

Jenson Button believes BAR have made “a step forward” after a mammoth test session in Spain.

The Honda-powered team headed straight to the Barcelona track for testing after registering their third consecutive double retirement last weekend in Bahrain, a result which leaves thm pointless so far this season.

BAR’s four drivers completed a total of 729 laps – more than 2,000 miles - over three days in a bid to iron out aerodynamic problems which have hindered them this season.

Button was content that progress has been made in the run up to the next race at Imola later this month.

Button, who set an unofficial lap record on Thursday, said: “It was a very busy test this week and I completed 250 laps over the two days.

“We focused mostly on reliability and aerodynamic work, trying out the new parts on the car, whilst the other car was doing all the tyre testing.

“The test went reasonably well and we have made a step forward. It’s difficult to know how big a step in relation to everybody else but we’ve tried lots of different parts on the car and think we’ve found the best way forward.”

BAR will test again next week at Paul Ricard in France.