Barcelona second pre-season test Test day three

A group of circuit guests are being shown the media centre while on their tour. Sadly they are denied the chance to be photographed with @eddstrawF1 as he's currently in the paddock.

Which track are you most looking forward to driving on the F1 Calendar?
@Jdixoncfc

Gutierrez: "Suzuka. It's a track that I really want to get to know. It has a lot of fast corners, it is very technical, so I'm really looking forward to that. Second? Austin."

Webber stays in low 1m23s on lap two of his run. He's using medium tyres.

A 0.042s gain for Webber as he does a 1m23.024s.

Esteban Gutierrez Sauber F1 2013 Testing

Many Formula 1 fans were disappointed by Sauber's decision and F1's failure to keep Kamui Kobayashi in the sport. How do you feel you will able to cope with comparisons to the man who you have re placed, especially with the debate around "pay drivers" continuing?
Tom, Tonbridge UK

Gutierrez: "I think Kamui was a great driver. I had a great relationship with him actually. I really don't have this in mind though, I don't think about me replacing him or not. It is just different stages in life – new drivers come in.

"Of course it doesn't feel the best to say OK I'm here in place of Kamui because he was a good friend of mine, but things happen. I'm here now and I'm going to do my best to make the most of the opportunity, because I know how many people want to be in this position."

Chilton sets Marussia's first quick lap of the day. He's still last on a 1m28.520s.

Grosjean is running on soft tyres. He backs off to 1m36s on his second lap.

Grosjean comes out and does a 1m22.332s to take second, just 0.188s behind Alonso.

Esteban, are you confident of beating Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying this year?
Adita

Gutierrez: "My goal is to be at his level. I am going to take it step by step, because he has three years of experience in Formula 1 and I cannot expect straightaway to beat him. But he is a great reference for me, I know that. I am going to work on being at his level this year."

Maldonado's pace goes up to 1m30s as he continues on a long medium tyre run.

Esteban Gutierrez Sauber F1 2013 Testing

How did you come up with such a sexy helmet design?
Luke from Australia

Gutierrez: "Aha. Well, I feel proud of the yellow and blue! It's a nice combination of colours, and you can see the helmet shining against the car. This is something I wanted to achieve so my followers can recognise who is driving the car straightaway. I helped in the design, and I think we achieved this."

Might hunt for a suitable picture in the lunchbreak.

Had a reader request for an aerodynamic/technical comparison explaining why a greyhound will outpace Lewis Hamilton's dog.

Vergne and Maldonado are the only drivers on track now, both lapping in mid-1m28s to low-1m29s.

Alonso's lap again came with a quick run on soft tyres, with the pace then going up by a few seconds after his best time.

Hulkenberg also stepped his pace up with a 1m23.397s.

Esteban Gutierrez Sauber F1 2013 Testing

How's it going with the new race engineer? Pay attention that he's my brother!
Federico Nenci

Gutierrez: "Haha. Well I feel very comfortable with him. He is very analytical in general and he considers where, as a rookie, I can get up to speed. He wants me to get there as quickly as possible, which is the same goal I have. At the same time he is adapting the team's development programme without compromising it, to combine with my own preparation. He's showed me some exercises to help me get up to speed quickly. The work with him is going very well, I am very comfortable."

Esteban, there is little testing for new drivers at the moment, do you think you will be fully prepared for Melbourne?
Tom Conway

Gutierrez: "I’m doing my best, but yes, it’s a very short time, only six days in total. It’s not easy of course because as a rookie you need a lot of laps and seat time to adapt, but this is what we have and what I’m trying to get the most out of. Basically it’s my only focus at the moment. We will see at Melbourne. It will be my first experience of a Formula 1 race."

Button gets the McLaren up to sixth on a 1m23.839s.

Rosberg's jump to second came at the start of a relatively long run on medium tyres. He backed right off to a 1m40s next time around and has been in 1m24s and 1m25s since.

I'm no expert on GP2 but noticed in 2012 that it can be very exciting, almost wild at times. Some drivers clearly can adapt straight away to the perceived differences required in F1 but others may struggle. Do you feel there is a difference in the two?
Mr Nelson

Gutierrez: "I think that the main change between GP2 and Formula 1 is from a psychological point of view. There is more media pressure, you are exposed basically to the whole world from a media point of view. And of course it's the top level so the result is the only thing that counts.

"At some point you consider the rookies coming in need some time to prepare and to adapt to the situation, but at the end of the day everyone expects the best results from the drivers. I think in F1 lately it has been every exciting races too with the characteristics of the Pirelli tyres, and now they seem more drastic so it will keep the races exciting and quite similar to GP2 probably."

Sutil goes fifth on a 1m23.641s.

Hulkenberg also improves, going 0.6s faster than before to take fifth for Sauber on a 1m23.849s.

Esteban Gutierrez Sauber F1 2013 Testing

We're with Esteban Gutierrez and ready to kick off our Live chat. The first question comes from Anna, who asks:

You have a nickname (as I know) "Stevo" - where did this nickname come from?

Esteban Guteirrez: 'Well, this nickname is from very close friends back in Mexico. When I was young they used to call me Stevo instead of Esteban. Not a lot of people use it, only my close friends."

Rosberg jumps to second with a 1m22.627s.

Alonso is on soft tyres, and his next lap past is a 1m24.4s.

Alonso, Maldonado, Vergne, Grosjean and van der Garde are now on the circuit.

Vergne improves to a 1m23.983s lap in fifth position.

Vergne comes out as well.

Maldonado is now the only man on track.

What it says in its ruffled middle isn't clear from the press room windows, sadly.

But there's also a banner that starts with 'Red Bull' and ends with 'COJONES!!!'

Banner Watch news: the de la Rosa and Kubica fans are still here, Kimi's crowd has gone as Grosjean's on Lotus duty, and there is a man with a South African flag.

Rosberg did a slow lap, then got back up to speed with a 1m24.933s. He's on medium tyres.

While Sutil tries to prove to Force India that he's the right man for the job, Paul di Resta says he's not fussed who his team-mate is.

Sutil stays out, doing a 1m25s then a 1m27s.

Rosberg immediately moves forward into fourth with a 1m23.153s.

Rosberg sets off again after a long time in the pits. Mercedes had been doing data-logging work and needed to remove a lot of measuring devices.