Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets today in his 2011-spec Merecedes GP car, ahead of Hamilton, Vettel, Grosjean and Alonso who were all running today. Jean-Eric Vergne had his first proper taster of F1 with his first official session for Toro Rosso, likewise Van Der Garde had his debut for Caterham – the man likely to succeed Jarno Trulli’s seat at some point.
Jules Bianchi’s debut for Force India wasn’t quite up to scratch with the Frenchman losing the rear and bringing the red flag out with a trip into the gravel trap in the morning – ruining any chance of some running in the afternoon for Nico Hulkenberg. Wouldn’t like to be Bianchi right now – as if there isn’t a lack of available testing time already.
We’ll be bringing you our full analysis of the first winter test once it’s complete, but for now here’s the timesheet from the day’s running and collection of photos via Octane Photographic to give you a taster of the action.
Timesheet: Jerez Day 3
| POS | Driver | Team | Best Time | Diff | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m17.613s | 118 | |
| 2 | Grosjean | Lotus | 1m18.419s | 0.806 | 117 |
| 3 | Vettel | Red Bull | 1m19.297s | 1.684 | 96 |
| 4 | Hamilton | McLaren | 1m19.464s | 1.851 | 80 |
| 5 | Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1m19.734s | 2.121 | 79 |
| 6 | Perez | Sauber | 1m19.770s | 2.157 | 48 |
| 7 | Alonso | Ferrari | 1m20.412s | 2.799 | 67 |
| 8 | Senna | Williams | 1m21.293s | 3.680 | 125 |
| 9 | Van der Garde | Caterham | 1m23.324s | 5.711 | 74 |
| 10 | Jules Bianchi | Force India | [no time] | n/a | only a few |
Gallery: Jerez Day 3
