Rosberg fastest on 3rd day of F1 testing

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg had the fastest lap on the third day of Formula One's penultimate testing session before the start of the new season.

The German driver set himself apart with a late run of 1 minute, 23.168 seconds on Sunday at the Catalunya Circuit in northeastern Spain.

"We made good progress in understanding the car and the tires, and the reliability was solid once again," Rosberg said.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov was 0.295 seconds behind, and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton had the third fastest lap of 1:23.858.

Red Bull's Mark Webber had the fifth fastest time, while Ferrari's Felipe Massa came in 10th.

Testing continues through Monday.