Fernando Alonso Fastest On Day Three Of Barcelona Test For Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has ended the third day of the second pre-season test fastest for Ferrari, on his final day of track action for the Scuderia. The Spaniard set the time in the morning period, and was followed home at the front by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.

The day dawned with a stark contrast in weather conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya, with chilly and cloudy weather conditions coupled with a slight fog in the air as the first cars took to the Barcelona circuit. The third day saw several driver changes up and down the paddock, with the likes of Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean and Adrian Sutil making their first appearances of the week for their respective teams.

Nico Rosberg became the first driver to take to the circuit as the day began, with the German driver returning behind the wheel of the W04 after Lewis Hamilton’s day in the car yesterday. The German proceeded to set the first timed lap of the day, albeit rather slowly with a 02:09.753. He marginally improved upon this time later on, with a 01:54.056 keeping him at the front for only a short amount of time. Soon, further drivers began setting much more competitive lap times, as Max Chilton rose to the top with a 01:35.802 for Marussia.

The benchmark at the top quickly began to improve as the morning progressed, with Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde momentarily setting the fastest time before the Red Bull of Mark Webber set a 01:27.385 to assert his authority over proceedings. The Australian driver improved upon his time with a 01:26.569, before the Williams of Pastor Maldonado shot to the top with several impressive times at the wheel of the Williams FW35. The Venezuelan ace worked his way down to a 01:22.675, before local hero and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso went fastest for Ferrari.

As the morning period entered its closing stages, Fernando Alonso remained the fastest driver at the top, with the Spaniard constantly improving with his Ferrari F138 and eventually setting a 01:21.875 in the final few minutes before the lunch interval. Alonso was followed at the top by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg with Romain Grosjean in the Lotus a close 3rd.

After the frenetic morning period, the afternoon session was a somewhat quieter affair as the majority of the field elected to carry out long race simulations, particularly Romain Grosjean who completed a 66-lap stint. Nico Rosberg was once again the first driver to take to the track once the session was resumed, however the order remained relatively the same as the day drew to a conclusion.

There was a slightly comical moment in the McLaren pit box, as the Woking-based mechanics waited patiently to receive Jenson Button. However, rookie Giedo van der Garde mistakingly drove through the McLaren pit box on his way to his own Caterham one, causing a mixture of amusement and frustration throughout the paddock. With rain a strong possibility for the fourth and final day tomorrow, many of the teams are predicting little productive running.

The first and only red flag period of the day occurred only minutes before the end of the session, when the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde stopped at Turn 3. The machine was quickly cleared, allowing several further minutes of track action. However, the order remained the same as Fernando Alonso headed the timing sheets on his final day for the Scuderia ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean. Tomorrow will see further driver changes as Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi make their first appearances of the week in a day which could be plagued by inclement weather conditions.

TODAY'S TIMES

Pos  Driver               Team           Time      Gap      Laps  Tyre
 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari        1m21.875s           97   Soft
 2.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber         1m22.160s  +0.285   91   Soft
 3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus          1m22.188s  +0.313   119  Medium
 4.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes       1m22.611s  +0.736   108  Soft
 5.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams       1m22.675s  +0.800   79   Soft
 6.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams       1m22.826s  +0.951   68   Hard
 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren        1m22.840s  +0.965   71   Soft
 8.  Adrian Sutil         Force India    1m22.877s  +1.002   78   Soft
 9.  Mark Webber          Red Bull       1m23.024s  +1.149   108  Medium
10.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso     1m23.366s  +1.491   106  Soft
11.  Max Chilton          Marussia       1m25.690s  +3.815   58   Soft
12.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham       1m26.177s  +4.302   93   Soft

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