csconstantine.com

Nico Rosberg said he was happy with the improved reliability of his Mercedes W02 after setting the pace on the third day of F1 testing in Barcelona.

Having suffered the lions share of problems with the new car during testing to date, Rosberg enjoyed a solid day of running for the second successive day as he added another 92 laps to the 131 he managed on Saturday.

Although damp conditions limited his running on Sunday morning, Rosberg was able to run through his testing programme during the afternoon with a series of longer runs on track as Mercedes worked on getting a better understanding of the new Pirelli tyres.

The German then posted the fastest time of the day during a qualifying simulation completed late in the day, which prevented Vitaly Petrov from taking bragging rights for Renault.

"It was interesting running with the intermediates this morning and, although the warm-up is tricky, we definitely improved our understanding of the tyres,? Rosberg said. ?Our long runs this afternoon included some aero work in preparation for our next upgrade package before going into lower-fuel, new-tyre running at the end of the day.

?We made good progress in understanding the car and the tyres, and the reliability was solid once again. Overall, I've enjoyed two positive and productive days here in Barcelona."

Michael Schumacher will be back at the wheel for the final day of the test on Monday.

To view times from the third day of running in Barcelona, CLICK HERE.

Labels: Eurosport, happy, improved, reliability, Rosberg, Yahoo