Perez headed the timesheets in Barcelona
Sergio Perez was fastest on the second-last day of testing in Barcelona.
The Mexican set the fastest time in the morning, edging out Jenson Button by 0.009 seconds. During the afternoon, rain began to fall, meaning that Perez’s time of 1:22.094 would stand as the fastest. Nearing the end of the day, there was reports of hail at Turn 1.
As opposed to the top two’s soft tyres, Daniel Ricciardo set his fastest lap on super-soft tyres en route to 3rd place.
Felipe Massa was 4th for Ferrari. The Italian squad raised eyebrows today after announcing that their drivers will not be talking to the media at any point during the weekend. The team’s Twitter account claimed that “The decision has been taken to keep the whole team fully focused on the job and there is not any polemic [controversial] intent behind it.”
Red Bull were the team to watch today, testing a heavily revised RB8 featuring a new exhaust layout. Mechanics were seen swarming around the car once it entered the pits, to block any photos of the new layout. Mark Webber was half a second off Perez with the updated car.
The front 9 drivers were separated by 0.8 seconds. Only Kimi Raikkonen was drastically off the pace, struggling with his steering in the morning, and setting only 43 laps across the entire day.
Meanwhile, HRT have confirmed that they will not be appearing at the final testing day tomorrow. The team still hopes to turn a wheel before Melbourne though, by doing a filming day next Monday.
Times from Barcelona day 3:
1. Sergio Perez Sauber C31 1:22.094 13 Laps
2. Jenson Button McLaren MP4-27 1:22.126 44 Laps +0.009
3. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso STR7 1:22.361 131 Laps +0.061
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari F2012 1:22.447 122 Laps +0.319
5. Paul di Resta Force India VJM05 1:22.828 108 Laps +0.352
6. Bruno Senna Williams FW34 1:22.836 111 Laps +0.386
7. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham CT01 1:22.893 64 Laps +0.536
8. Mark Webber Red Bull RB8 1:22.978 70 Laps +0.568
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes W03 1:22.932 129 Laps +0.838
10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus E20 1:25.379 43 Laps +3.285
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