18/2/11,
The Formula 1 teams began a new 4-day test the third test of the year, the Circuit de Catalunya.In the morning the track was quite wet from the rain that fell the previous evening and those who came to the track held rainy tires but then the good weather helped to dry the track fairly quickly to help the teams start their tests.
The best time of the day belongs to Sebastian Vettel, who did not, however, many miles with his RB7. The German completed only 37 laps and after the lunch he joined the track only twice, in one of which did a 1:24.374. Up to that point fastest was Fernando Alonso, who was again focused on covering large distances and lapped more than 100 rounds.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t complete many laps today, as we had a long break - longer than expected,” said Vettel. “It wasn’t anything big, nothing broke, but at the test if you think there might be a problem then you’d rather take the car apart and check. The boys did their best and we still got some runs towards the end of the day - not as much as we’d like, but the car feels good and hopefully we’ll do more tomorrow.”
Ferrari with their F150th Italia in the same configuration seen at its first test. Again, the main subjects on the team’s agenda were focusing on long distances and car balance with the tyres of Pirelli.
In the third position of the classifications was dropped Jaime Alguersuari with Toro Rosso, who was milliseconds faster than Kamui Kobayashi with Sauber. These two teams once again in this year's tests indicated enough good times, but also the Spanish and the Japanese drivers were guilty of the two of the red flags which appeared today. Jenson Button with the McLaren MP4-26 was dropped in the fifth position , ahead of Paul Di Resta. The Scot lost the whole morning stuck in the garage of Force India and made its appearance on the track late in the afternoon, managed to complete only 25 laps. Problems encountered the seventh ranked driver, Rubens Barrichello, in the car in which Williams's engineers changed the engine of Cosworth. Michael 
Schumacher was eighth with his Mercedes GP. The German took the afternoon match simulation.
The most active day driver was Narain Karthikeyan who was driving the last year's car of HRT, which reappeared after the tests in the absence of Jerez. The Indian did 116 laps and scored the ninth best time period, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen of Lotus. Also 116 rounds did Jerome D 'Ambrosio, driving the new car of Virgin.
“We didn't have enough set-up time today,” explained technical director Sam Michael. “The track was moist to start and didn't start ramping up until late morning, at which point we encountered an issue with the engine. Over the break, we changed the engine and did just one proper run at the end of the session. All of our running was carried out on the medium compound tyre. Despite the downtime, we actually tested and measured quite a few aero and systems items in the background.” said Barrichello.
The car of Renault was driven by both Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov. The German came out on the track this morning to train their pit stop but a problem in the electrical units of KERS in the R31 took the car into the garage for a long time. Petrov eventually managed to get on the track before the end of the day and did only 20 laps.
The performance tests will continue tomorrow in the circuit of de Catalunya in Barcelona in 19/2.Friday test times from the circuit of Catalunya:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:24.374, 37 laps
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:25.485, 101
3. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:25.638, 57
4. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:25.641, 78
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:26.365, 77
6. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:26.575, 26
7. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:26.912, 52
8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:27.512, 90
9. Narain Karthikeyan, HRT, 1:28.393, 116
10. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1:30.065, 54
11. Jerome d’Ambrosio, Virgin, 1:30.950, 116
12. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:35.174, 20
13. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:44.324, 27
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