Rookie Magnussen tops time sheets in McLaren on Day 3

McLaren rookie driver Kevin Magnussen has set the fastest lap ahead of Williams’ new driver Felipe Massa on another bad day of testing for rival team Red Bull Racing in Jerez.

Mercedes AMG F1 continue to have a productive first test in Jerez with the third of four days testing now complete. Not only have the team completed a higher number of laps than any team proving the reliability of the car, but Mercedes power also claims the top three spots on the time sheet today with Lewis Hamilton sitting in third place.

Red Bull Racing’s struggles only grow further after the RB10 completed just half a lap in the morning session before coming to a halt. In his first day behind the wheel of the RB10, Mark Webber’s replacement Daniel Ricciardo emerged from the pit garage just before the midday lunch break, only to make it as far as Turn 7 when the car came to a stop with plumes of smoke coming out of the rear. Ricciardo quickly removed himself from the car as track marshals used the fire extinguishers to control the smoke before the car was recovered to the Red Bull garage. The issue seemed to be minor though as Ricciardo appeared once more just before 13:00 local time.

Completing just two installation laps, Ricciardo would return to the pits once more and Red Bull would not be seen on track again on Day 3. Adding to speculation that the problems are bigger than the team are letting on, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey were seen leaving the track in the early afternoon without addressing the media.

Although Renault powered Toro Rosso completed 22 laps throughout the morning session, they were 20 seconds off the pace set by McLaren’s Jenson Button. Caterham reserve driver Roin Frijns completed just eight laps in the CT05, also powered by Renault, whilst failing to make it to the end of the pit lane twice in the opening hour of the session. Renault Sport F1’s struggle for mileage continues whilst the competition pull ahead.

Mercedes success in Jerez continues to grow since Lewis Hamilton’s front wing failure on Day 1. Nico Rosberg was three laps off 100 in yesterdays’ test day and with Lewis Hamilton back behind the wheel of the W05 on Thursday, the team successfully completed another 45 laps and the third fastest time of the morning. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso also had a good morning with the exception of a minor on track stop after 26 laps. The issue was not major and Alonso was back on track well before 13:00 local time to set his personal best lap just 0.4 seconds behind Jenson Button.

Felipe Massa looked comfortable behind the wheel of his Williams FW36, setting the fourth fastest time of the morning over 24 laps whilst Adrian Sutil made his debut behind the wheel of the Sauber C33. Going fifth fastest, Sutil would complete 28 laps in the Sauber before 13:00.

Nico Hulkenberg was also making his debut back behind the wheel of a Force India, but his run would be limited to just 6 laps before returning to the garage for the morning.

The afternoon session picked up where the morning left off; with Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari dominating the track time whilst Toro Rosso, Sauber, Caterham and Force India used the afternoon to run various short stints and reliability tests.

Renault Sport F1 would be happy to see Caterham and Toro Rosso at least running throughout the afternoon, though things were not ideal as various technical faults continued to haunt the two teams. With limited running over the course of three days, things seemed to be looking up for Toro Rosso until Jean-Eric Vergne’s car ground to a halt at the end of the pit lane with just over ten minutes remaining in the session. Vergne finished the day with the seventh fastest lap and 30 laps on his tally. Although Caterham’s Robin Frijns completed ten laps today, he did not set any official lap time as the laps were counted as installation laps, limited again Renault’s information on the car.

Mercedes will be pleased with their third day of testing in Jerez. After crashing out of the first days’ testing, Lewis Hamilton put 62 complete laps on the W05 today with a third fastest time. Hamilton also opened the afternoons’ test session with an early fast lap that stood as the fastest lap of the week until late in the afternoon when Magnussen took the title.

Felipe Massa also looked comfortable in his new home, completing 47 laps throughout the day for the Williams outfit and posting a second fastest lap just 0.4 seconds off the pace of the McLaren ahead of him. Williams will also find solace in the knowledge that after the third day of testing their car is posting times close to the front-runners.

Day 3 of testing in Jerez also saw the debut appearance of Marussia’s 2014 challenger, the MR03. Marussia, whose car arrived at Jerez late in the afternoon yesterday, did well to get their car built and ready to run in the latter stages of the afternoon on Thursday. Marussia’s Max Chilton, driving his second year in Formula 1 with the Marussia outfit, completed a total of 5 laps for the team on their first outing, 2 more laps than Red Bull Racing. As the chequered flag fell at the end of the day, Marussia were quick to tweet:

“@Marussia_F1Team Nice round of applause from the grandstand as @maxchilton completes a fifth and final lap in the new #MR03. A good debut!”

Day 3 laps and times are as follows:

The fourth and final day of testing in Jerez commences tomorrow, January 31st 2014.