BARCELONA: Nico Hulkenberg posted the fastest time in the Force India on the third morning of pre-season testing in Barcelona as Ferrari suffered their first setback of the new season.
Ferrari had topped the timesheets on both the opening days with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel.
However, Kimi Raikkonen had no such luck as a fuel system problem restricted the Finn to just four laps in the final hour before lunch.
A much quieter morning than the opening two days was overshadowed by the news of a planned drastic overhaul to qualifying for Grand Prixs for the upcoming season.
A knockout format for qualifying has been proposed by F1 bosses to introduce more excitement after two years of dominance at the front of the grid by Mercedes.
The German giants once again prioritised miles over speed on day three as Nico Rosberg logged 74 laps in a third fastest time behind Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen in the Renault.
Despite a marathon 172-lap run on Tuesday, Rosberg was straight back into the W07 in a change of plans as he and world champion Lewis Hamilton will have half a day each in the final two days of the first test.
Hamilton didn’t look too perturbed, though, as he passed through the paddock on a hoverboard whilst taking his dog Roscoe for a walk early in the session.
Indonesian rookie Rio Haryanto had an opening F1 session to forget as he spun his Manor into the gravel.
McLaren made more steady progress without showing any signs they will have the speed to compete at the front of the grid this year as Jenson Button completed 45 laps down in seventh fastest.
New knockout system
Formula One qualifying is to undergo a major overhaul this season after F1 bosses unanimously agreed to change to a knockout format.
The changes are expected to be passed in time for the first race of the season in Australia on March 20 in a bid to introduce more excitement after two years of domination by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
“Upon the recommendation of the Strategy Group, the F1 Commission passed a series of new measures designed to deliver a faster, more spectacular FIA Formula One World Championship,” the FIA said in a statement.
The meeting of the Strategy Group and F1 commission in Geneva on Tuesday was expected to see more technical changes to help increase the speed of the cars for the 2017 season.
However, the deadline for agreement on changes to the regulations has been delayed until April 30.
The proposal will see qualifying split into three segments.
The first segment will last 16 minutes and after seven minutes the slowest driver will take no further part in the session. Every 90 seconds thereafter, the slowest driver will be knocked out until there are only 15 drivers remaining.
A 15-minute second segment follows a similar pattern with the slowest driver eliminated after six minutes and then a further driver knocked out at 90-second intervals.
The final segment will last 14 minutes with knockouts beginning after five minutes until the two final drivers are left to fight it out for pole position.
