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Williams lead day three in Barcelona, with Maldonado on top - Pastor Maldonado makes his way to the top of the times

Published by Christine

Focusing his way to the top
Focusing his way to the topCredit: LAT Photographic

Pastor Maldonado posted the fastest time not only of the third day of testing in Barcelona, but also of this week's test as a whole. He was followed by Michael Schumacher, who completed the most laps of the day - 127. Schumi also finished off an almost 60 lap stint, proving the reliability of the new Mercedes chassis.

Towards the rear of the field, Felipe Massa finished seventh and also brought out a red flag at the very end of the day, halting the test a little early. He and Mark Webber posted exactly the same time, settling in the 1:24s. Timo Glock finished ninth, after 108 laps, whilst Vitaly Petrov fell behind and finished last. There was a brief moment where the Russian led the times, but it turns out that was a false hope.

The timing screens had something of a glitch.. raised a few eyebrows here....

MyCaterhamF1 MyCaterhamF1

You blinked and you missed Petrov going quickest. Turned out it was a timing error though

EliGP EliGP

Finally, a couple of teams happy with their day's running - including Sauber who don't think third is particularly remarkable.

Another great day and solid laps haul. 108. Timo in fine form and looking forward to the new season.

Marussia_F1Team Marussia_F1Team

#Kamui is on track for another 5-lap-run. No remarkable lap times expected today. Aero and set up work, data recording...

OfficialSF1Team OfficialSF1Team

2012 Pre-Season Testing - Day 3, Barcelona
PositionDriverTeamTimeLaps
1Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1:22:391106
2Michael SchumacherMercedes1:23.384127
3Kamui KobayashiSauber1:23.58299
4Jenson ButtonMcLaren1:23.918114
5Jean-Éric VergneToro Rosso1:24.43378
6Mark WebberRed Bull1:24.77197
7Felipe MassaFerrari1:24.77184
8Paul di RestaForce India1:25.64683
9Timo GlockMarussia1:26.173108
10Vitaly PetrovCaterham1:26.44870

All content in the series F1 testing 2012