Rosberg fastest at Barcelona test

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the pace at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on the first day of the second pre-season test. The German was just 0.007 seconds faster than Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was third, 0.336secs off the pace, and just 0.013secs quicker than world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. Pastor Maldonado's Williams was fifth fastest on its first day of testing, but more than a second off the pace. "I am very pleased with w the day went lap-time wise," said Rosberg. "We are making progress and it is going in the right direction." The top four all set their fastest times on the 'medium' tyre, whereas Maldonado was on the 'soft', which is theoretically faster over one lap. Lap times in testing are rarely accurate indications of form as teams do not reveal the specification in which they were running their cars.