Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button endure difficult day of Formula One testing as technical woes curtail their time on the track

• e-mail

Britons Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button suffered technical issues on the first day of Formula One's final pre-season test in Jerez.

Both men failed to get out on track in the afternoon, Hamilton having managed 48 laps in his Mercedes before an issue with his energy recovery system, and Button's day ended after only seven laps following a hydraulic leak.

Hamilton still managed to turn in an impressive effort in the available window, clocking one minute 24.881 seconds on medium tyres for the third fastest time of the day.

Jenson Button endured a difficult day behind the wheel testing the McLaren car ahead of the new season

Lewis Hamilton managed 48 laps with the Mercedes before an energy recovery system issue curtailed his day

Button pictured in action on a day of testing on Thursday in Jerez in Spain

That was slower than timesheet-topping Felipe Massa's 1min 23.500secs, though that mark was achieved on the quicker soft tyres on a one-off flying lap.

Mercedes Tweeted their hopes of getting back to business on day two as they announced they would not be back out.

'That's our day done,' read the post.

'Problem diagnosed as MGUK [motor generator unit - kinetic] failure. Crew working hard to make sure we're back in business tomorrow. £BackToWork £F1'.

McLaren explained their own issues in a post on their website, before confirming Button would be back on day two with a change of engine.

'The day kicked off with Jenson conducting some aerodynamic tests, which meant he only completed a single timed lap,' it read.

'After just seven laps, Jenson noted a vibration and brought the car back to the pits, where we discovered a hydraulic leak that required a full power-unit change. The time required to complete the change unfortunately meant that our running for the day was over before lunchtime.'

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson had a strong day at the office, second behind Massa with a late 1:24.276s showing and also turning in 122 trouble-free laps.

Felipe Massa topped the timesheet with 1min 23.5 seconds. albeit using softer tyres

Button, of McLaren Honda, exits the garage during his Formula One testing session

Massa was the only other driver of the eight on show who reached three figures, reaching 103.

Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) completed the field.

The F1 season gets under way in Australia on March 15.