Jerez: Kamui on top as Button brings it to a close

A late charge from Kamui Kobayashi saw the Sauber driver steal the honours at Jerez while Jenson Button continued the latest trend of ending session five minutes early with a red flag.

Despite some concerns in the morning that the rain, which caused havoc to the teams' programmes on Wednesday, could again come down, only a few drops fell, leaving the drivers a dry track on which to test.

Buemi made the most of the conditions as the Toro Rosso driver posted a 1:20.026, the fastest lap time of the week, to top the timesheets ahead of Button.

It was an impressive showing from the Swiss driver as it wasn't just a one-off lap, he managed a few, each quicker than the other, to keep Button's challenge at bay.

And while it appeared as if Buemi would finish the day at the top of the timesheets, an extremely late charge from Sauber's Kobayashi had the Japanese rookie taking the honour.

While all eyes were fixed on Button's stricken McLaren, which had stopped out at Turn Six for as yet undisclosed reason bringing the session to an end five minutes ahead of schedule, Kobayashi crossed the line, the first driver to break into the 1:19s.

The Sauber rookie recorded a 1:19.950 to pip Buemi by 0.076s.

Button was therefore knocked down to third place while Nico Hulkenberg, whose running was cut short in the morning with a hydraulic problem, finished fourth place, ahead of Tonio Luizzi.

Michael Schumacher, who took over from Nico Rosberg for Thursday's action, finished in sixth place with a 1:21.304. However, the Mercedes driver was not concentrating on low-fuel qualifying stints.

Instead, Schumacher conducted a long run in the afternoon, completing 35 laps in one stint, during which the German was lapping in the late 1:24s.

Schumacher wasn't the only driver putting in long runs as Fernando Alonso, who finished seventh on the timesheets, put together a run of almost 50 laps.

And although the Spaniard finished behind Schumacher on the timesheets, he was quicker than the German on his long runs, lapping in the 1:23s and early 1:24s

Robert Kubica, who was called up to replace Vitaly Petrov as Renault wanted their lead driver in action on what many believe will be the only dry day of testing for the week, was eighth overall ahead of the morning's early pace-setter, Mark Webber.

Timo Glock completed the timesheets in tenth place, almost ten seconds off the pace. The German, though, only amassed 11 laps before a problem with the mounting of his front wing saw it fall off onto the track during the morning session.

Unfortunately for Glock and his Virgin team, a lack of parts meant they were forced to sit out the remainder of the day. "We're missing one or two spare parts which will hopefully arrive this evening, so we won't be able to run for the rest of the day," said tech boss Nick Wirth.

Unofficial Times
1. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:19.950 103 laps
2. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:20.026 +0.076 121 laps
3. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:20.618 +0.668 83 laps
4. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:20.629 +0.679 67 laps
5. V. Liuzzi Force India VJM-03 1:20.754 +0.804 80 laps
6. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:21.083 +1.133 124 laps
7. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:21.424 +1.474 129 laps
8. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:22.003 +2.053 103 laps
9. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:22.043 +2.093 99 laps
10. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:29.964 +10.014 11 laps

Source: Jerez: Kamui on top as Button brings it to a close - Planet-F1 News from planet-f1.com