Rosberg puts Mercedes top as testing ends

Sunday 03rd March 2013, 16:26 by TF1T Staff 

Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on top for the final day of pre-season testing ahead of the new season with a lap of 1:20.130.

The German traded fastest laps with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for much of the morning before posting the blistering time to remain at the top until the end of the session.

Alonso remained second as the pair concentrated on long-runs after their early runs on soft tyres and low-fuel.

Jenson Button went third fastest, albeit over a second off the leading pace with Nico Hulkenberg a tenth back.

Kimi Raikkonen suffered from reliability issues on his return to the E21 after pulling out of Saturday's running due to illness. Once the team had replaced the gearbox, he got out on track to complete just 50 laps.

Further back, Marussia ran both Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton, with the former coming out ahead by almost a second.

Times from the Barcelona pre-season test (Sunday):

#DriverTeamTimeGapLaps
01. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.130   131
02. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:20.494 +0.364 120
03. J. Button McLaren 1:21.444 +1.314 122
04 N. Hulkenberg Sauber 1:21.541 +1.411 118
05. K. Raikkonen Lotus 1:21.588 +1.528 50
06. P. di Resta Force India 1:21.664 +1.534 112
07. P. Maldonado Williams 1:22.415 +2.285 42
08. S. Vettel Red Bull 1:22.514 +2.384 100
09. V. Bottas Williams 1:22.524 +2.394 31
10. C. Pic Caterham 1:23.115 +2.985 116
11. J. Bianchi Marussia 1:23.628 +3.498 62
12. D. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.628 +3.498 49
13. M. Chilton Marussia 1:24.103 +3.973 49

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