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Jensen Button in the Brawn car - Source: Reuters -
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Formula One championship leader Jenson Button, chasing his fourth win in five races, made a dream start to his Spanish Grand Prix weekend with the fastest lap in first practice.
Button, one of the smoothest of drivers, lapped the Circuit de Catalunya in one minute 21.799 seconds in his Mercedes-powered Brawn GP after switching to soft tyres late in the session.
His was the only time inside the 1:22 mark and was also faster than Kimi Raikkonen's 2008 pole position for Ferrari of 1:21.813.
The race, at a circuit familiar to all teams from pre-season testing, has been won by the driver on pole position for the past eight years.
Toyota's Italian Jarno Trulli was second on the timesheets, 0.355 slower, with Poland's Robert Kubica third quickest in a revamped BMW-Sauber.
Kubica and his team mate Nick Heidfeld, fourth fastest, had languished near the bottom of the times before banging in quick laps near the end.
Champions Ferrari made little impact on the opening session, on a hazy morning in the hills north of Barcelona, with Brazilian Felipe Massa ninth quickest.
The Italian team have made significant changes to their car, including a new rear diffuser and aerodynamic package, after suffering their most disappointing start to a season since the championship started in 1950.
Massa, overall runner-up last year, has yet to score a point this season.
His team mate Raikkonen, the 2007 champion whose last victory was in Barcelona a year ago, has an altogether new chassis for Sunday's race but was only 11th on the timesheets behind Brawn's Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.
Williams made a good start to the weekend with Japan's Kazuki Nakajima fifth and Germany's Nico Rosberg sixth after spinning.
The session got off to a slow start, with drivers staying in their garages for the first half hour.
