Fun in the sun as Benetton trains.

Jenson Button and Mark Webber were put through their pre-season paces by Benetton last week, as the team attended a training camp in Lanzarote.

Better known as a venue for aspiring tri-athletes, the Canary Island played host to Benetton's two newest recruits last week, with the team's human performance manager Bernie Shrosbee monitoring their progress towards ultimate F1 fitness.

Jenson Button and Mark Webber were put through their pre-season paces by Benetton last week, as the team attended a training camp in Lanzarote.

Better known as a venue for aspiring tri-athletes, the Canary Island played host to Benetton's two newest recruits last week, with the team's human performance manager Bernie Shrosbee monitoring their progress towards ultimate F1 fitness.

The programme, the second of three sessions planned for the team's drivers, began immediately after the New Year celebrations were over, and lasted for six days. Button and Webber were joined in the sun by Shrosbee and two physiotherapists, and enjoyed a diverse array of exercise that included running, mountain and road biking, swimming and spells in the gym lifting weights and completing circuits.

Despite a degree of apprehension towards the programme, Button admitted that the team had found the right balance between fun and punishment.

"I had a fantastic time," the Briton bubbled, "I was slightly apprehensive about the intense training programme - which averaged four activities a day and included two and half hour uphill bike rides - but we had a really good team there, and it was lots of fun as well as hard work."

Webber, who has yet to get into his stride as the team's new test and reserve driver, was also impressed with the way the programme was carried out.

"Fitness is so important in Formula One that you can't afford not to take it seriously," he explained, "I'm really glad that the team provides so many resources to get us to peak performance - I really get a lot out of these sessions."

Benetton training regime veteran Giancarlo Fisichella was excused the Lanzarote session following surgery on a troublesome knee injury in December, but should be available for the third and final segment of the programme having resumed testing duties at Jerez yesterday [Monday].

Read More