McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen kept the team atop the times on the penultimate day of the Jerez pre-season test after he took the wheel from team-mate Jenson Button in the afternoon.
Button meanwhile was fourth fastest after covering 40 laps, to give McLaren a combined total of 91 on day three alone.
Felipe Massa popped up in second in the Williams with a lap just under half a second slower, whilst Lewis Hamilton was third after covering 62 laps.
The top four cars were therefore Mercedes powered, backing up reports the German manufacturer is ahead of its competitors, though Ferrari weren’t far behind with Fernando Alonso fifth, Adrian Sutil eighth and Max Chilton, in the newly unveiled Marussia, 11th after he completed five laps.
Renault and particularly Red Bull’s day wasn’t much better than previous, having completed 42 and three laps respectively.
Jerez Testing Time (Thursday):
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:23.276 | 51 | |
| 02 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:23.700 | +0.424 | 47 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.952 | +0.676 | 62 |
| 04 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:25.030 | +1.754 | 40 |
| 05 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:25.495 | +2.219 | 58 |
| 06 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:26.096 | +2.820 | 17 |
| 07 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:29.915 | +6.639 | 29 |
| 08 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:30.161 | +6.885 | 34 |
| 09 | R. Frijns | Caterham | 10 | ||
| 10 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 5 | ||
| 11 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 3 |
