Nico Hulkenberg led the way in the morning session of the third day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona, finishing seven-tenths of a second clear at the top of the timesheets.
Hulkenberg enjoyed his first run in the new Force India VJM09 car on Wednesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, following on from Alfonso Celis Jr. and Sergio Perez on the previous two days.
The German driver immediately seemed at ease with the car, posting a best lap time of 1:25.266 on the medium tyre with just over one hour to go in the morning session.
It proved to be enough to give him P1 once the chequered flag came out, finishing seven-tenths of a second clear of Renault's Kevin Magnussen in second place.
Magnussen's first run in the R.S.16 saw him complete 57 laps without any major issues, going some way to make up for the issue-laded running teammate Jolyon Palmer endured on Monday and Tuesday.
Having completed over 170 laps on Tuesday, Mercedes opted to ease Rosberg's run programme in the morning as he completed over 70 laps en route to third place. The German driver will hand the W07 over to Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon after Mercedes' opted to revise its running schedule.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished fourth for Toro Rosso, but his session was not without its issues as a loose right-rear tyre caused him to come to a halt at pit exit early in the day.
Daniil Kvyat made a late improvement on an otherwise quiet morning to rise to fifth for Red Bull. Felipe Massa ended the morning sixth for Williams ahead of compatriot Felipe Nasr, while Jenson Button followed in P8 for McLaren as the MP4-31 continued to lay down some mileage without any major problems.
Romain Grosjean continued Haas' strong start to testing by finishing ninth, less than two seconds off Hulkenberg's time at the top and completing over 50 laps in the morning for the debutant team.
Rio Haryanto enjoyed his first run in the Manor MRT05 on Wednesday, finishing 10th overall, but like Sainz he too was responsible for a red flag, beaching his car at Turn 5 with 20 minutes remaining in the morning.
A fuel system issue limited Ferrari's running in the morning, with Kimi Raikkonen only managing three laps and failing to post a time during his first run in the SF16-H.
Testing resumes at 2pm local time in Barcelona, continuing until 6pm.
Pre-season testing – Test 1 – Day 3 Morning Times:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:25.286 | 37 | |
| 2 | K. Magnussen | Renault | 1:26.014 | 0.728 | 63 |
| 3 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.084 | 0.798 | 74 |
| 4 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:26.474 | 1.188 | 66 |
| 5 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:26.497 | 1.211 | 29 |
| 6 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:26.712 | 1.426 | 57 |
| 7 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:26.840 | 1.554 | 61 |
| 8 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:26.919 | 1.633 | 45 |
| 9 | R. Grosjean | Haas | 1:26.955 | 1.669 | 54 |
| 10 | R. Haryanto | Manor | 1:29.808 | 4.522 | 25 |
| 11 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | No Time | 4 |
