Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari topped the timesheets on day three of the Formula One group test at a wet Jerez.
Teenager tops timesheets at rain hits Jerez again
Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari topped the timesheets on day three of the Formula One group test at Jerez - although bad weather once again hampered proceedings. Much as it had on Wednesday, persistent rain prevented meaningful running with the exception of the first hour in the morning. Nineteen-year-old Alguersuari was one of a handful of drivers to set a time early one and his best of one minute 19.919 seconds proved sufficient. Toro Rosso have consistently been on the pace at Jerez with Alguersuari's efforts following those of Sebastien Buemi, who was second both on Thursday - when the weather remained dry for the duration - and Wednesday. Alguersuari was over eight-tenths faster than second-placed man Pedro de la Rosa of Sauber, with Force India's Adrian Sutil third despite an electrical problem limiting him to just 48 laps. "I'm very confident on the general speed of the car," Sutil said. "Unfortunately the rain came in quite early and then it was really waiting for reasonable conditions to go out. "We had a problem in the afternoon that caused us to miss a bit of track time, but considering it was so wet it would have been very difficult to get a lot of running in anyway." Felipe Massa was fourth for Ferrari after completing 72 laps while Sebastian Vettel was fifth quickest on his first outing in the new Red Bull Racing RB6, the German producing a best time of 1min 21.783secs from his 59 laps.Sure-footed
Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov appeared sure-footed in the conditions and ended the day sixth quickest overall after putting in 68 laps. Nico Rosberg was seventh after taking over driving duties from Michael Schumacher at Mercedes GP, while new Williams signing Rubens Barrichello completed 120 laps - and survived a spin which brought out the red flags - on his way to eighth. Lewis Hamilton could manage only ninth in McLaren's new MP4-25, although the team said they used the window of dry weather early in the day to undertake aero-mapping runs which were conducted at lower speeds. Meanwhile, newcomers Virgin Racing finished bottom for the third day running after they failed to get their car on track until the final two hours of the session. Making his first appearance for the team, Lucas di Grassi squeezed a lap of 1:37.107 from a total of just eight laps. The test concludes on Saturday. Times: 1 Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m19.919 76 laps2 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber 1m20.736 58
3 Adrian Sutil Force India F1 1m21.428 48
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.603 72
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m21.783 59
6 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.000 68
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1m22.829 53
8 Rubens Barrichello Williams 1m23.217 120
9 Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1m23.985 68
10 Lucas di Grassi Virgin Racing 1m37.107 8