Day three of the opening Jerez test saw Sauber’s Felipe Nasr finally topple Ferrari from the top of the timing screens, but only just.
With Sebastian Vettel quickest on the opening two days, it looked as though Kimi Raikkonen would carry on the pattern, but a late lap from Nasr put Sauber two tenths ahead of the Finn’s best.
Nico Rosberg was third fastest, but once again focused on distance and covered a staggering 151 laps, though Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr came close to that tally with 136.
Felipe Massa was fourth for Williams whilst Pastor Maldonado was four-tenths back in sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo tried to make up for Red Bull’s disappointing second day following the loss of a front-wing, but he could only complete 48 laps, 16 more than McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard looked to be enjoying a better day of testing, with a smooth morning session seeing him surpass their total lap tally by some margin, however a Honda issue in the afternoon ended their day early.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 01. | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:21.545 | 108 | |
| 02. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:21.750 | 0.205 | 92 |
| 03. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:21.982 | 0.437 | 151 |
| 04. | F. Massa | Williams | 1:22.276 | 0.731 | 71 |
| 05. | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:22.713 | 1.168 | 96 |
| 06. | C. Sainz Jr | Toro Rosso | 1:23.187 | 1.642 | 136 |
| 07. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:23.901 | 2.356 | 48 |
| 08. | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:35.553 | 14.008 | 32 |
