03/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Heavy overnight rain meant that today's session at Jerez de la Frontera got underway in damp conditions that demanded inters or in some cases full wets.
As ever, Mercedes was first out, Rosberg’s W06 showing no signs of the water leak issue that curtailed yesterday's running.
After two days of frustration, during which his team completed just 12 laps, Fernando Alonso was another early riser, whilst Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari appeared sporting a weird array of sensors.
Almost an hour into the session, with everyone bar Maldonado having made an appearance, Felipe Nasr was the first to switch to slick rubber. Shortly after, Alonso crossed the line to complete his seventh lap of the day... things looking good for McLaren.
Ninety minutes into the session, as Lotus revealed that Maldonado's car was suffering a "telemetry issue", Nasr brought out the red flag for the first time since Sunday when he went off into the gravel in T8 and had to be rescued.
When action resumed, almost 15 minutes later, Alonso was first out of the box, at which point Lotus tweeted that Maldonado would soon be joining him.
Almost two hours in and Raikkonen finally posts a time (1:37.342), the Finn seeking to take up where teammate Sebastian Vettel left off on Monday (and Sunday).
As Maldonado finally emerged, for a single installation lap, Alonso began a run of ten timed laps, the Spaniard improving to fifth in the process.
As Raikkonen went quickest, taking the top spot from Rosberg, who, as ever, was quietly getting on with the job and completing lap after lap, attention drifted to the Red Bull garage where Ricciardo clearly had a problem.
Three hours into the session and, other than Raikkonen and Rosberg, Carlos Sainz remained the only other driver to post a time on slicks, the Spaniard and the German both improving to leapfrog Raikkonen.
As Maldonado went fourth quickest, Sauber revealed that it was to take an early lunch break. Elsewhere, began to filter through that the engine was being changed on Ricciardo's car.
Just before the four hour mark, out came the red flags again when Rosberg slowed to a crawl at T10, his team advising that he'd better not be late for lunch. Though the German has completed 93 laps, it is clear that, like yesterday, the Mercedes still has reliability issues, the Brackley-based outfit subsequently revealing that an "engine shutdown" had brought his run to a halt.
Also on duty today is Felipe Massa for Williams, however, thus far he has only completed 15 laps, though that's ten more than Ricciardo.
Morning Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Rosberg | Mercedes | 39 | 1:24.357 | 117.419 mph |
| Raikkonen | Ferrari | 93 | 1:24.770 | 0.413 |
| Sainz | Toro Rosso | 56 | 1:25.352 | 0.995 |
| Maldonado | Lotus | 18 | 1:26.824 | 2.467 |
| Ricciardo | Red Bull | 5 | 1:34.776 | 10.419 |
| Nasr | Sauber | 30 | 1:35.127 | 10.770 |
| Alonso | McLaren | 32 | 1:35.553 | 11.196 |
| Massa | Williams | 15 | 1:45.928 | 21.571 |
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