Felipe Nasr sent Sauber to the top of the timesheet on Tuesday in pre-season testing at Jerez, narrowly edging the Ferrari of morning pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
Less than half a second separated the trio at the close of play, although it was Nasr who set the headline time as he bolted on Pirelli's super-soft tyres and lapped the Spanish track in 1m 21.545s. The Brazilian also clocked up more than 100 laps on what was only his second official session as a Formula One race driver.
Raikkonen maintained Ferrari's position at the sharp end of the times with a 1m 21.720s on the white-marked medium compound, which was enough to edge Rosberg by two-tenths of a second in the fight for second overall.
Elsewhere there was encouragement for McLaren as Fernando Alonso managed 32 laps total, and several multi-lap runs, on his final day of running at Jerez.
The Spaniard's day was cut short by a loss of cooling water pressure, which left him with an unrepresentative time of 1m 35.553s set in mixed early conditions. Nevertheless the team were buoyed by their increased running relative to the first two days, and also by the fact they will be able to replace the problematic components ahead of the fourth and final day.
Alonso's tally was still in stark contrast to Rosberg, who once again set the standard with 151 laps in the Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid. The German's day included triggering the red flags when an on-track engine shutdown brought him to a halt just after midday.
Nasr had earlier triggered the red flags to fly when he spun into gravel at Turn 9 in damp conditions, while Lotus's Pastor Maldonado brought them out for a third time with just over one minute of the day remaining when he stopped out on track.
The Venezuelan had been delayed as Lotus encountered telemetry problems in the morning, but eventually finished the day fifth overall - just behind Felipe Massa, who took over from Valtteri Bottas for his first day of running in the Williams FW37.
Carlos Sainz Junior was sixth for Toro Rosso, while Daniel Ricciardo was limited by engine problems that restricted Red Bull to a handful of short runs in the RB11 as the day drew to a close.
Testing concludes at Jerez on Wednesday.
Unofficial Tuesday testing times from Jerez:
1. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 21.545s, 109 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 21.750s, 94 laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 21.982s, 151 laps
4. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 22.276s, 71 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 22.713s, 96 laps
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1m 23.187s, 137 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 23.901s, 49 laps
8. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1m 35.553s, 32 laps
(source: f1.com)
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