Transmission problems require Hamilton to finish the test at Jerez earlier

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS continued its pre-season testing programme at the Circuito de Jerez earlier today, with Lewis Hamilton taking the wheel of the F1 W05 for the third day of running in Spain.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W05

Photo by: XPB Images

The team completed good mileage during the morning before a transmission issue curtailed running in the afternoon. Lewis's best time of 1:23.952 from 62 laps was good enough for third position on the time sheets, and second in the lap count behind the combined total of McLaren Mercedes pairing Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

After two runs of medium length during the afternoon, a transmission issue brought the team's day to an early conclusion with a total of 62 laps on the board.

Mercedes AMG Petronas has so far completed 783 km at the Circuit de Jerez, with one day of the test remaining.

Nico Rosberg will be in the car tomorrow for the fourth and final day of the opening pre-season test at Jerez.

Lewis Hamilton: "At the moment we're definitely happy. We've shown the strength within this team through all the hard work that's gone into getting the car here, bouncing back from the issue on Tuesday and then going out there and following up 97 laps yesterday with a further 62 today; it's a huge accomplishment for everyone involved. Proving reliability at this stage is crucial and every lap is precious, as this is going to be a seriously challenging year for every team. I'm feeling very positive after these tests and every day on track is another step forwards, but there are so many challenges ahead of us in the coming weeks and months that we just have to take those steps one at a time."

Paddy Lowe: It was good to get Lewis back in the car today for his first real opportunity to drive some good laps and explore the performance of the W05. We made a relatively strong start to the day and completed two medium length runs before lunch. We began running again at around 14:30, completing a couple more runs before a transmission issue brought our day to an early close. Nevertheless, we achieved reasonable mileage overall with a total of 62 laps and learned a great deal more about the car. The target for tomorrow will be to continue making progress in our understanding of the car and put more miles on what is still a very new technical package.

Mercedes AMG Petronas