Alonso tops Day 3 of Catalunya testing

MONTMELO, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 21: Fernando Alonso of Spain and Ferrari drives during day three of Formula One winter test at the Circuit de Catalunya on February 21, 2013 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Spaniard Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets at the end of the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, posting a time of 1:21:875. With rain predicted for tomorrow, most of the teams tried to run their cars as much as they could so that their development plans wouldn’t get affected.

Lotus tried to recover some lost momentum by doing more laps than anyone else. They completed 119 laps, with plenty of long runs in the afternoon. Reigning champions Red Bull and Mercedes completed 108 laps.

The highlight of the day though was the return of Adrian Sutil to F1. Sutil was driving for Force India, and got the chance to impress his prospective employers. He completed 78 laps, with a time of about a second slower than the fastest time set by Alonso. Another significant fact that emerged is that Mercedes has improved their car a lot. And the good news for Mercedes fans is that this car is not only fast, but is easy on its tires as well. This bodes well for the team, but there is still a long way to go before the start of the season, and everything could change by then.

Day 3 times

1. Fernando Alonso 1:21:875s2. Nico Hulkenberg 1:22:160s3. Romain Grosjean 1:22:188s4. Nico Rosberg 1:22:611s5. Pastor Maldonado 1:22:675s6. Valtteri Bottas 1:21:826s7. Jenson Button 1:22:840s8. Adrian Sutil 1:22:877s9. Mark Webber 1:23:024s10. Jean-Eric Vergne 1:23:366s11. Max Chilton 1:25:690s12. Giedo van der Garde 1:26:177s

Best Sector times

Sector 1: 22.745 – Romain Grosjean

Sector 2: 30.747 – Fernando Alonso

Sector 3: 28.203 – Nico Hulkenberg

Best Possible Laptime: 1:21:695s