• Jerez Test, Day Three

Red Bull's testing problems continue at Jerez

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Red Bull's first test issues continued on Thursday at Jerez as the RB10 completed just half a lap before coming to a smoky halt on its first run on the third day of testing.

Red Bull new boy Daniel Ricciardo finally emerged shortly before midday but only made it as far as Turn Seven before stopping with smoke coming from the rear. He was quick to get out of the car as marshals blasted a dose of fire extinguisher foam into the rear of the RB10 and put it on a flatbed truck to complete the lap. However, the issue appeared to be relatively minor as he returned to the track just before 13:00 to complete another two laps.

Renault-powered cars have been struggling for mileage all week, but Toro Rosso completed 22 laps on Thursday morning, even though they were all over 20 seconds off the pace set by Jenson Button's McLaren. Robin Frijns managed just eight laps in the Caterham-Renault, failing to make it all the way back down the pit lane twice in the opening hours of the day.

In contrast, Mercedes had another productive morning, notching up 45 laps and the third fastest time with Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel. Following its front wing failure on Tuesday, Mercedes has been in a league of its own in terms of reliability with the W05 happily pounding around lap after lap. Ferrari had a slight hiccup on Thursday morning when Fernando Alonso's F14 T stopped on track after 26 laps, but he was back on track before 13:00 and set his personal best to go 0.465s off Button.

Felipe Massa was fourth fastest as he got his first taste of the Williams with 24 laps by 13:00, while Adrian Sutil also made his testing debut for his new team on Thursday with 28 laps in his new Sauber. Nico Hulkenberg also made his first on-track appearance of 2014, but completed just six laps in the Force India on his return to the team.

Times at 13:00

Jenson Button    McLaren      1:25.030 40 laps
Fernando Alonso  Ferrari      1:25.495 32 laps
Lewis Hamilton   Merceds      1:25.973 45 laps
Felipe Massa     Williams     1:27.286 24 laps
Adrian Sutil     Sauber       1:30.161 28 laps
Nico Hulkenberg  Force India  1:30.205  6 laps
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso   1:45.525 22 laps
Robin Frijns     Caterham     No time   8 laps
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull     No time   3 laps 

Laurence Edmondson is deputy editor of ESPNF1

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