Barcelona Day 3: Rain still affects testing, Rosberg on top

Nico Rosberg for Mercedes GP topped the timesheets this Saturday morning in Barcelona as rain disrupted the penultimate day of testing in Spain. The day started dry, and the German took advantage to complete a series of laps with a low fuel level, setting the best time at 1:20.686. The schedule of all teams was affected as the track became wet from 11 a.m. onwards.

The string of laps that Rosberg completed provides a first glimpse of the pace of his Mercedes GP. The team, moreover, limited its operation this week to very specific activities.

This time of 1:20.686 is just a few hundredths slower than Fernando Alonso’s reference for Ferrari on Friday, when he set a best lap of 1:20.637. He also achieved it with a low fuel level before focusing on a race simulation.

Rosberg changed his schedule during the course of Saturday to switch to longer runs when it became clear that track conditions would not improve. All the best times were set in the morning before the rain began to fall. For example, Sébastien Buemi for Toro Rosso finished second in 1:21.413.

Adrian Sutil ranks third for Force India with a best time of 1.22.951, ahead of Felipe Massa for Ferrari and Rubens Barrichello for Williams. The driver had a slight scare at turn No. 5 as conditions became difficult.

Jarno Trulli (Lotus) and Kamui Kobayashi (BMW-Sauber) completed race simulation work despite the wet conditions, while Jenson Button had a frustrating morning. He stopped on the track during his installation lap with the McLaren and couldn’t resume testing on a dry track. As a result, he is logically last on the timesheet.

Neither Timo Glock (Virgin) nor Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) completed any laps this Saturday.

Results of Barcelona Private Tests – Day 3 – Saturday, February 27, 2010: