Mugello, Day 3: Vettel fastest as Ferrari falter in morning session

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel has ended the morning period fastest on the final day of the Mugello test, the first in-season test since 2008. Ferrari started the day promisingly, with a whole host of new updates to their car, only for Fernando Alonso to embed his car in the gravel at turn 12, with damage to the front wing setting Ferrari back.

As the morning session began, Heikki Kovalainen was the first out as the Finn made his first appearance on the track all week. The Finn was joined by the majority of the field as they completed their usual installation laps. Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado also made their first track appearances of the test, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg scheduled to step into the Force India throughout the day as well.

Fernando Alonso set the initial pace for Ferrari, with the Italian outfit running several extensive upgrades to their car. His time was a 01:21.772, as Daniel Ricciardo and Heikki Kovalainen slotted into 2nd and 3rd places respectively. However, Alonso and Ferrari’s positive morning took a turn for the worse as the Spaniard was all-of-sudden seen embedded in the gravel with the front wing damaged. Whether the front wing failed on the car, or whether Alonso lost control of the Ferrari is as of yet unknown. This incident delayed Ferrari’s morning schedule by just over two hours as they set to fixing the damage.

There was further drama down in the pit-lane throughout the morning period, as the Sauber of Sergio Perez momentarily caught fire and engulfed the surrounding garages in smoke. This minor mishap failed to deter the Mexican from the track, as he completed over 40 laps throughout the morning. Pastor Maldonado suffered a miserable session as his Williams was plagued with electrical issues, which resulted in the Venezuelan only completing a handful of laps throughout the morning.

A second red flag of the morning was caused by the Force India of Paul di Resta, who stopped in the gravel at turn 11. Luckily for the Scot, no damage was sustained during his excursion through the gravel.

With Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari residing the pit-lane in sorry state of repair, this allowed Sebastian Vettel to leapfrog the Spaniard and set the quickest time of the morning with a 01:21.314, which he capitalized on shortly after with a 01:21.267. Yesterday’s pace setter Romain Grosjean wasn’t far behind the 2-time World Champion, as Lotus continue their competitiveness. Ferrari completed a stellar job in fixing Alonso’s Ferrari, as the Spaniard rejoined the track shortly before the lunch interval.

The final session of the week will continue after the lunch interval, before the teams and drivers take what they have learned from Mugello to the Spanish Grand Prix.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1