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As it happened: Test day three
By Pablo Elizalde, Matt Beer and Jamie O'Leary
The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.
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FASTEST TIMES |
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P |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Maldonado | Williams | 1m22.391s |
2 |
Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m23.384s +0.993 |
3 |
Kobayashi | Sauber | 1m23.582s +1.191 |
4 |
Button | McLaren | 1m23.918s +1.527 |
5 |
Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1m24.433s +2.042 |
6 |
Webber | Red Bull | 1m24.771s +2.380 |
7 |
Massa | Ferrari | 1m24.771s +2.380 |
8 |
Di Resta | Force India | 1m25.646s +3.255 |
9 |
Glock | Marussia | 1m26.173s +3.782 |
10 |
Petrov | Caterham | 1m26.448s +4.057 |
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All timing unofficial. Updated: 16:00 GMT |
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OVERVIEW |
DAY THREE |
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CURRENT WEATHER |
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Mainly sunny |
High Temp: |
16°C / 61°F |
Track: |
Dry |
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Why thanks!
Paul writes: Highlights: Kimi back in an F1 car & Autosport coverage trying to inject a little humour and excitement to the proceedings.
Lowlights: Ferrari do not appear great & Caterham do not appear to have moved up as much as I hoped & knowing it’s stupid trying to guess form from testing
David writes: Testing highlight: (commentary on the Heikki spin) and talk of low loaders! Also news that Ferrari may be slower; I really want to see Schumi on the podium this year!
Testing Low: Knowing that Autosport's coverage is coming to an end, very sad :(
We say: We are not that sad!
We say: We have to see the timing screens before we can type something!
We say: We got a lot of mail saying the same thing about Kimi
Uday wrote: Highpoints – The start of F1 season 2012, Return of Kimi, Positive growth & development of Force India! Also the wonderful commentary by Autosport!
Lowpoints – All 12 F1 teams not taking part in the testing!
Our pleasure!
Could you bring us something while you are at it?
Don't worry, then, plenty of that to come over the next two days.
No, unfortunately nothing. They are busy with preparing their cars to go racing. Crazy, we know.
So you are warned
Poor Sam, leave him alone.
(The answer is no)
Lowlight: Following the tes ts on Autosport Live while I should be working!
We blame Ecclestone, for example.
We hope that clears it!
Peter wrote: The highlight for me so far is the fact, that most of the cars aren't act ually that ugly as they first seemed to be, and also your great and at times funny commentary. Making my days in work much more enjoyable :)
The lows for me are that not all of the teams have made it to the tests, that Red Bull is looking very strong again and that Caterham seems to be outside of the main field just as it were year before :(
Lowlight: RB again really really good. Waiting for Australia ;)
Highlights so far: McLaren and Red Bull are close with Ferrari struggling and Mercedes looking good.
Lowlights: Lotus going home early with Williams and Caterham not looking as good as I would have hoped!
Horrible year for all, we are afraid.
Lowlight........ My questions didn't get a run.
We say: We have some 500 unread emails. We are sorry!
Lows: Cars hilariously hideous. Lotus finds a severe car issue, ruining my hopes of a sensational title bid. HRT and Marussia's new cars nowhere to be seen. Not enough reshuffling of the grid, I'd have liked something ridiculous like Caterham fighting for podiums.
I feel sorry for poor Sam and all the abuse he's receiving this week. Like Bruno, Jacques and Damon before him, he's doing his level best to live up to a far superior family name in his field .
Kobayashi did an aero run down the start/finish straight
Lowlight: All the beauty talks on performance competition... isn't that just nonsense?! Well, I`m glad I am McLaren fan these days, don`t get me wrong. :)))
Lowlight: Ferrari seeming to struggle, even predictions about mileage on the next day can't be fulfilled, should we start worrying?
Lowlights: having a pain in the bum from sitting playing bass guitar whilst reading Autosport live every day of testing!
You can't have it all...
Lows: - No pitlane babes!
But we do plan to send Edd Straw out with a mini-skirt.
Earlier as in the previous red flag, not the latest one
Sidharth writes: Highlight - Kimi's performance on the opening day!
Lowlight - HRT not getting a car ready in time in 2012as well, and also not giving Karthikeyan a taste of the new tyres!!
Lows: There are no lows in F1.
We are pretty sure some teams would disagree with that...
The lows - Lotus chassis "saga" and the fact that nothing has changed at the very head of the "pecking order" with McLaren having another chance of becoming best of the rest. Oh yeah... they will win F1's beauty contest once again this year... wonder if that's what they really want.
Low: Being thrown out of class for following Autosport's live commentary of Jerez on my cell. But I'm following each word again in the same class. F1 forever!
We say: Good, good. You have to have priorities.
Lows: Suspicion it may be another dog – let’s hope not!
Lows - No one has found out the real reason behind the Red Bull slot...driver cooling my ass! Oh and realising testing laptimes actually mean bugger all..
@MyCaterhamF1: Run 4 done - Vitaly's reporting that there was quick big drop off on the rear tyres on the last couple of laps but good balance
Highs: McLaren state to have a better start than last year.
Lows: No one knows anything about anything before Q1 in Melbourne.
Lows: We can't watch tests on TV.
But you have us!
From hard to soft, think Knife (sliver), Bread (white), Butter (yellow), Jam (red).
We find that more difficult than looking at the graphic, but hey!
Low: It is not going to last very long. Ferrari where it was before Todt turned up: nowhere!!!
"Testing high: watching Valtteri in action having been driven around at Palmersport (Bedford Autodrome) by him in a modified BMW M3 last year and watching him drift a Caterham all the way down a straight. Seeing Williams put in some competitive times today!
"Testing low: Not having a clue what all this testing will mean come Melbourne."
High: "Having one of my questions answered by Heikki Kovalainen on AUTOSPORT.com (we thank you) and the unveiling of the Red Bull RB8."
Low: "Jarno Trulli's untimely exit from Caterham and F1."
Low: Being told it was a timing error."
"More significantly, teams will use photographers to get shots of rival cars. Sometimes specific details, or just to take a look in general at the car and its attitude in different corners. There's a lot you can learn from that. Although, again, it's important to remember that a design concept sported by one car isn't necessarily transferable because it has to interact with the whole airflow regime of a car."
"It also has a less abrasive track surface. Jerez has an extremely abrasive surface that does have an influence on how the tyres behave. Inevitably, what they learn here will have use for the Spanish GP. But as the track temperature should (weather permitting) be a fair bit higher, the tiny details that are usually worked on during the race weekends can't be finalised here."
"Low: 23 days to go until the first race!"