Jerez first 2014 test Test day three
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Sutil update: It's not Turn 5, it's Turn 7. The position of the car and tyre marks indicate some sort of failure rather than a straight driving error.
Josh from London: Are you surprised by Renault's performance in testing so far, and are you surprised by the reliability of the Mercedes engine?
Nico Rosberg: "We all expected a lot of reliability issues. I'm definitely surprised at our performance yesterday, that we were able to do so many laps.
"And Lewis again today is leading in terms of amount of laps and that's really important progress so early on to sort out the reliability challenge."
Nico Rosberg: "We all expected a lot of reliability issues. I'm definitely surprised at our performance yesterday, that we were able to do so many laps.
"And Lewis again today is leading in terms of amount of laps and that's really important progress so early on to sort out the reliability challenge."
Nico Rosberg F1 Mercedes 2014
Stratos from Edinburgh: What is more difficult - trying to master four-ball juggling or trying to figure out F1's latest rules?
Nico Rosberg: "Both are very difficult - not so much the rules but the whole technology involved in driving the car is really complicated and complex.
"For example, my whole steering wheel is custom made, and I have a smart phone section in the car which I set up to my own needs with whatever I want on there."
Peter from the Netherlands: Do you ever challenge your Dad in activities like karting or cycling perhaps? And if so, who wins?
Nico Rosberg: "No, but check out on YouTube - we went ice rallying against each other a couple of years ago. Guess who won...;)"
Nico Rosberg: "No, but check out on YouTube - we went ice rallying against each other a couple of years ago. Guess who won...;)"
He is sat at Turn 5 with the front wing and front-left wheel missing.
Red flag
Red flag as Sutil appears to have crashed the Sauber.
Phil Waldron is next up in our "Ask Nico" section:
Lewis doesn't seem as mentally strong as yourself and some others. Is that something you work on alongside all the other aspects of racing (fitness, diet, engineering etc) or do your Finnish genes just make you naturally more chilled out?
Nico Rosberg: "It's the Finnish genes ;)"
(Incidentally, Nico was very amused to find that one member of AUTOSPORT Live didn't know what a smiley was...)
Lewis doesn't seem as mentally strong as yourself and some others. Is that something you work on alongside all the other aspects of racing (fitness, diet, engineering etc) or do your Finnish genes just make you naturally more chilled out?
Nico Rosberg: "It's the Finnish genes ;)"
(Incidentally, Nico was very amused to find that one member of AUTOSPORT Live didn't know what a smiley was...)
While Rosberg answers your questions, Alonso and Sutil head out to join Magnussen on-track.
Nico Rosberg F1 Mercedes 2014
Our first question for Nico Rosberg is from Suvrajit Ganguly, who asks:
I know it's a very early stage in the game, but how different does the 2014-spec car feel from the cockpit? Are the differences in handling, sound and performance obvious?
Nico Rosberg: "The driving is similar. The tyres are harder at the moment so that makes it a bit more difficult....and the engine is different, especially because of having the low RPM - but good torque and needing to run higher gears in the corners. Last year we did a hairpin in first gear, this year it's maybe third."
And comes in. Hamilton has also pitted, leaving Magnussen out on track.
Sutil has also joined the two Mercedes-powered cars on track.
Magnussen Jerez D3
And now a 1m25.751s for Magnussen.
Hamilton is on the medium Pirelli. He has followed that lap up with a 1m24.056s, the two fastest laps of the test so far.
Magnussen, on the hard, has also improved, to 1m26.210s.
Magnussen, on the hard, has also improved, to 1m26.210s.
Stopwatch
And it clearly worked because Hamilton sets a new best time of 1m23.952s.
Quote
Hamilton's Mercedes whistles down the pitlane. Lewis says he has been preparing for 2014 in a slightly unusual way:
"It has probably been the shortest winter I have ever had out of the car. I spent Christmas and New Year training in the mountains and I even put a turbo on my snowmobile, so that I could get used to the feel of a vehicle delivering power in that way, which was pretty awesome."
"It has probably been the shortest winter I have ever had out of the car. I spent Christmas and New Year training in the mountains and I even put a turbo on my snowmobile, so that I could get used to the feel of a vehicle delivering power in that way, which was pretty awesome."
Alonso comes in briefly, then blasts back out.
Thanks for all your questions for Nico Rosberg. The man himself will be arriving shortly to provide his answers to AUTOSPORT Live.
Nico Rosberg F1 Mercedes 2014
Alonso is back out on track with the Ferrari. He needs to find half a second to knock Hamilton off top spot.
Twitter
Marussia seems pretty happy with how the MR03 ran on its first outing.
@Marussia_F1Team: "Straight out of the garage & a good clean installation lap. We couldn't have asked for any more than that!"
@Marussia_F1Team: "Straight out of the garage & a good clean installation lap. We couldn't have asked for any more than that!"
Magnussen pits. He has already completed 19 laps today in the MP4-29. That's more than Red Bull has managed in three days!
JONATHAN NOBLE has just returned from the paddock and has reported that Adrian Newey and Christian Horner have already left the track. Not a good day for Red Bull...
We spoke too soon! Hamilton pits, leaving only Magnussen on his own.
Massa's run wasn't very long, but Hamilton has now done eight laps in this stint.
And back into the 1m27s for Hamilton, running on the hard Jerez tyre. He's running a very similar pace to Magnussen's McLaren, which is on the standard hard.
Hamilton had been lapping in the 1m27s, but records a slow 1m46s last time around.
A little squirm for Magnussen at the last corner, but the result is 1m26.348s, which moves him to fourth.
And now a 1m26.568 for McLaren's new man, while Massa takes the Williams back out.
Magnussen is now on the normal Pirelli hard tyre and immediately improves to 1m27.521s. He's still fifth though.
Chilton has brought the Marussia in after its installation lap.
Alonso in, Hamilton out. It's a while since we've seen the Mercedes on-track, even though it has still completed more laps today than any other car.
Magnussen follows him out, so we have a new F1 car and a new F1 driver on-track.
Alonso leaves the Ferrari pit in the F14 T too.
Alonso leaves the Ferrari pit in the F14 T too.
And we finally have the Marussia heading out on track. Max Chilton at the wheel.
And then he pits, still in second behind Button, who is done for the day.
The home favourite gets straight down to a mid-1m25, just 0.006s slower than his best earlier today.
Alonso takes the Ferrari back out. So far, the F14 T is the only car able to get close to the performance of the Mercedes-powered machines.
Magnussen comes in after his first eight-lap run as a McLaren grand prix driver.
Hulkenberg brings the VJM07 back in. He has still only done 14 laps today; it's not been a great one for Force India.
Alonso is in the pits, leaving just the McLaren and Hulkenberg's Force India on the circuit.
Magnussen continues to bring his times down on his first run in the MP4-29, now to 1m27.731s.
By: Sam Tremayne, Matt Beer, Kevin Turner, Pablo Elizalde
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