Hulkenberg sets the pace on day three of testing

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Nico Hulkenberg headed the timesheets for Force India as the teams paused for lunch on the third day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain on Wednesday.

The German, enjoying his first action of the year in Force India’s Mercedes-powered VJM09, lapped in 1m 25.286s on the medium compound tyre to go 0.728s clear of Kevin Magnussen, whose best time came on soft rubber.

Magnussen, making his first appearance behind the wheel for Renault, completed 63 laps in the morning session, though the highest tally once again went to Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, who was third quickest and added a further 74 laps to the 172 he managed on Tuesday.

The German will hand his Silver Arrow over to team mate Lewis Hamilton this afternoon after Mercedes altered their run plans because of the "unprecedented mileage levels" completed in the two days thus far. "We want to keep our boys in top shape for Melbourne!" the team added on Twitter.

Red Bull's Daniel Kvyat and Williams' Felipe Massa ended the morning fifth and sixth on the timesheets as they sampled their respective cars for the first time, just behind Carlos Sainz who caused the first of two red flag stoppages when he stopped his Toro Rosso on the exit of the pit lane with a loose rear wheel.

The other red flag was caused by rookie Rio Haryanto, whose 2016 debut was interrupted when he beached his Manor into the gravel at Turn 5. The Indonesian pilot had clocked 25 laps before that.

Having topped the timesheets on the opening two days of testing with Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari had a difficult morning, with Kimi Raikkonen consigned to the garage for several hours. The Finn eventually emerged with a little over 40 minutes of the session still to run, eventually completing four laps without setting a time.

Wednesday morning's unofficial testing times from Barcelona

POSDriverTeam/CarBest lapGapLaps
1Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes VJM091:25.28637
2Kevin MagnussenRenault R.S.161:26.0140.72863
3Nico RosbergMercedes F1 W07 Hybrid1:26.0840.79874
4Carlos SainzToro Rosso-Ferrari STR111:26.2390.95366
5Daniil KvyatRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB121:26.4971.21129
6Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes FW381:26.7121.42657
7Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari C341:26.8401.55461
8Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda MP4-311:26.9191.63345
9Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari VF-161:26.9551.66954
10Rio HaryantoManor Racing-Mercedes MRT051:29.8084.52225
11Kimi RaikkonenFerrari SF16-HNo time4

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