• Jerez Test, Day 3

Rosberg keeps 2011 Mercedes on top

Nico Rosberg attacks the kerbs in the 2011 Mercedes © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Jules Bianchi
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Sergio Perez
• |
• Kimi Räikkönen
• |
• Nico Rosberg
• |
• Bruno Senna
• |
• Giedo van der Garde
• |
• Jean-Éric Vergne
• |
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo
• |
• Caterham
• |
• Ferrari
• |
• Lotus F1
• |
• McLaren
• |
• Mercedes
• |
• Racing Point
• |
• Red Bull
• |
• Toro Rosso
• |
• Williams

Nico Rosberg set a new fastest time at Jerez on Thursday as he returned to the cockpit of last year's Mercedes W02.

Rosberg spent a morning in the car on Tuesday before handing over to Michael Schumacher, but came back in fine form to set by far the fastest time of the test so far with a 1:17.613. The lap was nearly a second faster than his team-mate's best effort on Wednesday and 0.806s faster than early-morning pacesetter Romain Grosjean in the Lotus E20, which was the fastest of the 2012 cars.

Grosjean impressed his pit wall by getting on the pace immediately on a brand new set of medium tyres, with trackside operations director Alan Permane tweeting, "RG 1st set new tyres 18.9.... Sweet". By lunch his best time was a 1:18.419, trumping Michael Schumacher's best time in the 2011 Mercedes on Wednesday and over a second clear of the next fastest man, Lewis Hamilton.

It was Hamilton's first morning in the McLaren MP4-27 and he completed 36 laps with a best time of 1:19.464. He was joined on track by fellow big-name drivers Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the latter drawing a large crowd in the grandstand opposite the Ferrari garage.

However, a hydraulic issue midway through the morning limited Alonso's track time to 25 laps, with the F2012 emerging again at about 12:20 local time. His return roused a positive response from his fans and he soon responded by setting a best time of 1:20.412, although Ferrari insists its focus is still on understanding the new car rather than chasing laptimes.

The Force India completed the least laps of all after test driver Jules Bianchi ditched the new VJM05 in the barrier, damaging its rear suspension. Bianchi completed a problem-free morning on Wednesday, but lost the rear of the car early on his second lap on Thursday and went backwards into the tyres. The impact appeared to be quite light, but the damage meant the car did not return to the track for the rest of the morning.

Vettel appeared to be easing himself back into the new season slowly with 28 laps in the Red Bull RB8, the fastest of which was a 1:20.154. That was good enough for sixth fastest and is roughly one second slower than team-mate Mark Webber managed in the same car on Wednesday.

Other new faces at the test on Thursday were Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso, fourth fastest, Bruno Senna in the Williams, eighth fastest, and test driver Giedo van der Garde in the Caterham, ninth fastest. After two days of testing earlier this week, HRT has now packed up its 2011 car and headed home.

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