Mercedes make headway as Massa leads on third day in Jerez - Ferrari become the third team at the top of the timesheets on Day 3
Published by Christine
All eyes were on Mercedes today as they finally managed to get some serious mileage under their belts. With Nico Rosberg back on duty, the F1 W04 was finally put through its paces, as the German completed 148 laps and ended the day in a much more positive frame of mind.
It wasn't all good news at Jerez, however, as Force India driver James Rossiter managed to miss his cue in the pitlane, didn't hit the brakes in time, and crashed into a mechanic. The front jack man was thrown up into the air, but after a quick visit to the medical centre he was declared fully fit, just a bit bruised and understandably quite shaken!
Meanwhile, in terms of times, Felipe Massa got to the top of the leaderboard with the fastest time we have seen all week, dropping into the 1:17s. The Brazilian was understated about his performance though.
We had a lot of items to test and the car went well, it was not difficult to drive and it seemed to me to be quite stable and balanced. Today, we fitted the soft compound tyres for the first time and I went faster than I had expected.
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari
Kimi Räikkönen made a start to his 2013 campaign, taking over the driving duties from Romain Grosjean. He completed 40 laps, after the car came to an early halt. Paul di Resta only managed seven, but he was sharing his track day and the car also developed an exhaust problem in the afternoon.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:17.879 | 85 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:18.766 | 148 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:19.052 | 102 |
| 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:19.200 | 40 |
| 5 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:19.247 | 85 |
| 6 | James Rossiter | Force India | 1:19.303 | 42 |
| 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:19.603 | 83 |
| 8 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Sauber | 1:19.934 | 110 |
| 9 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:21.269 | 78 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:21.575 | 86 |
| 11 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 1:22.352 | 57 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:23.729 | 7 |
Three drivers completed over 100 laps today, with Sebastian Vettel putting in some solid work as he took over from Mark Webber. In the sister car, Jean-Éric Vergne was behind the wheel of the STR8 for the first time, and fifth isn't all that bad for Toro Rosso.
Also notable today was Pirelli's disappointment with the test so far, as motorsport director Paul Hembery has complained about the lack of useful information, the increased shredding of tyres due to the track, and the general surface of the tarmac.
Jerez surface ever more aggressive, big increase in macro roughness, so graining/abrasion high. Hard to work with from tyre perspective. Jerez was always a good circuit to push tyre compounds, but now looking too far out of line compared to other tracks.
PaulHembery
Had a very productive day for the team and my self, lots of laps which is always good and great to see the new car's potential at the end!
A productive day for us - the track is very aggressive on tyres so we switched our main focus to aero work with @valtteribottas today #Jerez
So, another day's testing has come to a conclusion. Clutch woes meant early Earl Grey for us.
Tomorrow is the final day of this first four-day test, and there are still a few changes to be made in the cars. Hamilton will be back in action for Mercedes, hoping for some of the luck Rosberg had today. Pedro de la Rosa will make his testing debut for Ferrari, whilst Force India are meant to be giving Jules Bianchi a run in what very well could be his race seat. All that and the sun continues to shine!
