German driver Nico Rosberg put his 2011 Mercedes in first place at the end of day 3 of the preseason testing at Jerez. Frenchman Romain Grosjean's Lotus was the fastest of the 2012-spec cars.
The conditions on track were much better today, as there was much less wind. However, the weather was a bit cool, especially early in the day.
Rosberg was fastest of the day in the year-old Mercedes W02. Rosberg completed 113 laps around the Jerez circuit and set a best time of 1min17.613.
"I'm happy with the testing that we have achieved here in Jerez, and we learned a lot about the Pirelli tires and a few other things for the new car. It seems that the tires are closer performance-wise this year, with the rear tires also looking a bit stronger,” said Nico Rosberg.
Romain Grosjean made his first appearance in the Renault-powered Lotus E20, and he needed little time for adjustment as he got down to a 1m18.419 ; the fastest time from a 2012 machine thus far in testing.
Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel put the Red Bull-Renault RB8 in third place in his first time in the new car.
“It was very cold this morning and hard to get temperature into the tires. That meant that the first couple of hours weren’t too productive, but later on the conditions were great with less wind than yesterday, so we managed to get through almost everything we wanted, including two long runs, which went well,” said Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering.
Lewis Hamilton, new to the McLaren MP4-27, was fourth and completed 80 laps of the Jerez circuit.
The conditions on track were much better today, as there was much less wind. However, the weather was a bit cool, especially early in the day.
Rosberg was fastest of the day in the year-old Mercedes W02. Rosberg completed 113 laps around the Jerez circuit and set a best time of 1min17.613.
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| Romain Grosjean, Lotus E20 (Photo: WRI2) |
"I'm happy with the testing that we have achieved here in Jerez, and we learned a lot about the Pirelli tires and a few other things for the new car. It seems that the tires are closer performance-wise this year, with the rear tires also looking a bit stronger,” said Nico Rosberg.
Romain Grosjean made his first appearance in the Renault-powered Lotus E20, and he needed little time for adjustment as he got down to a 1m18.419 ; the fastest time from a 2012 machine thus far in testing.
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| Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB8 (Photo: WRI2) |
Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel put the Red Bull-Renault RB8 in third place in his first time in the new car.
“It was very cold this morning and hard to get temperature into the tires. That meant that the first couple of hours weren’t too productive, but later on the conditions were great with less wind than yesterday, so we managed to get through almost everything we wanted, including two long runs, which went well,” said Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering.
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| Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-27 (Photo: WRI2) |
Lewis Hamilton, new to the McLaren MP4-27, was fourth and completed 80 laps of the Jerez circuit.