Nasr sets pace for Sauber at Jerez

Sauber F1 Team

Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr topped the times for the Swiss squad on the third day of the first pre-season test at Jerez on Tuesday.

Nasr recovered from a wild moment in the morning in which he beached his car at Turn 9 to set the pace with a lap time of 1:21.545.

Kimi Räikkönen, piloting the Ferrari SF15-T for the first time, ended the day second fastest, with Nico Rosberg third for Mercedes.

Rosberg again ensured Mercedes topped the mileage charts with 151 laps, despite his W06 Hybrid stopping on track due to an engine shutdown, causing a brief stoppage at lunchtime.

Felipe Massa was fourth quickest in the Williams FW37, with Pastor Maldonado recovering from a telemetry issue during the opening stages to post the fifth best time.

The Venezuelan did bring running to a premature end when he stopped on track during the final couple of minutes of the session.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr. had a productive day but Daniel Ricciardo undertook limited running for Red Bull after the team had to change his power unit.

Ricciardo completed just five laps during a damp morning before he was able to rack up more substantial mileage during the closing few hours of running.

McLaren had a more encouraging day as Fernando Alonso completed 32 laps in the Honda-powered MP4-30 during the morning session.

But Alonso spotted a problem on an out lap and McLaren traced it to a loss of cooling water pressure, meaning that the squad had to remove the power unit, ending their running early.

The Spaniard rounded out the times having set his quickest lap when the track was damp during the preliminary stages of the day.