With track temperatures in the high twenties for the first time of any test this winter, tyre data had an additional validity today, as the sun shone on the circuit of Catalunya throughout the day.
Jaime Alguersuari had his first day at the wheel, after Sébastien Buemi had driven for the past two and worked on evaluating some new aero components. The Spaniard did mainly long runs to assess the reliability of these new parts, as well as carrying out a half-race simulation in the afternoon and some set-up work on the STR6.
Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies said: "The warmer track temperature was definitely useful for the teams and for Pirelli, in terms of preparing for Melbourne. Also bearing in mind that the season gets underway soon, we have carried out a lot of pit stop practice runs, as clearly this will be a key element during races this season. In fact, over the past two days, we have completed a total of 60 pit stops."
Unofficial Thursday times:
1. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:21.761
2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:22.092
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.466
4. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:22.637
5. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:22.892
6. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:23.541
7. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1:23.990
8. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:24.233
9. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:24.334
10. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:24.779, 107 laps
11. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Virgin, 1:27.336
12. Jarno Trulli, Lotus, 1:34.485
BARCELONA TEST – DAY 3