Formula 1 Testing: Times from Day Three at Jerez

The first official F1 test of the year continued at a cold Jerez on Thursday.  We saw the 2012 debuts of three world champions—Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Romain Grosjean of Lotus, Bruno Senna of Williams, Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso and Caterham test driver Giedo van der Garde also had their first on-track taste of their new machines.

Force India test driver Jules Bianchi took the unwanted award for the first proper "off" of the season, putting his car into the tyre barrier at the Curva Sito Pons inside the first hour of the test.  The team got straight to fixing the damage and should be ready again for tomorrow's action.

The quickest time was once again set by a 2011 Mercedes, Nico Rosberg lapping in 1:17.613.  Of the new cars, Lotus continued their strong showing with Grosjean managing a 1:18.419, comfortably the fastest lap set by a 2012 car this year.

*01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:17.613	118 Laps
02	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:18.419	117 Laps
03	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	1:19.297	96 Laps
04	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:19.464	80 Laps
05	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:19.734	79 Laps
06	Sergio Perez	Sauber	1:19.770	46 Laps
07	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:20.412	67 Laps
08	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:21.293	125 Laps
09	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	1:23.324	74 Laps

* indicates 2011 car.

Lotus are looking impressive, but Williams and Caterham might be concerned by their apparent lack of pace relative to the other cars.  While no one has truly shown their hand, the two teams have near enough propped up the timesheets every day so far.

McLaren finally put in a lap under the 1:20 mark, but Hamilton didn't complete as many tours as he may have hoped.  And though Alonso's running was hampered by a hydraulic problem, the Spaniard managed Ferrari's new "personal best" of 1:20.412. 

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Vettel completed 96 laps, but finished a tenth shy of teammate Mark Webber's best from day two.

We've still only really seen teams concentrate on longer runs, ensuring their cars are reliable (or not) and gathering data on the new tyres.

Friday will bring the fourth and final day of F1 at Jerez in 2012.  Hopefully we'll see some quick laps to round out the session and finally get that elusive clue as to how fast some of the cars truly are.