Spanish F1 fans expected much more from Alonso and Ferrari
Nico Rosberg kept Mercedes at the top of the timesheets at the midway stage of day three testing at Jerez, with Romain Grosjean and Lotus this time the fastest of the 2012 runners. Grosjean impressed his pit wall by getting on the pace immediately on a brand new set of medium tyres, with trackside operations director Alan Permane tweeting, "RG 1st set new tyres 18.9.... Sweet". By lunch his best time was a 1:18.419, fastest time so far set by 2012 cars.
Sebastian Vettel was third quickest on his first day in the RB8. It was close between Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, who looked in the groove during a late run, but set just fourth quickest time.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.613 74
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:18.419 +0.806 53
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:19.464 +1.851 38
4. Jules Vergne Toro Rosso 1:19.734 +2.121 41
5. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:19.770 +2.157 31
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:20.154 +2.541 28
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:20.412 +2.799 29
8. Bruno Senna Williams 1:21.293 +3.680 61
9. Giedo Van der Garde Caterham 1:23.505 +5.892 40
