Rosberg tops F1 time-sheet on last day of testing

BARCELONA — Germany's Nico Rosberg of Mercedes set the fastest lap time on a curtailed fifth and final day of pre-season testing at the Jerez circuit here on Saturday.
His best time of 1min 43.814sec was over half a second quicker than his nearest rival, Williams' new Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton, the champion in 2008, was once again well off the pace in his McLaren.
"I'm not frustrated," he insisted. "It's tough on everyone in the team because everyone puts so much work into (the car), and you see it come out and look so beautiful, and... it's not a disaster, it just doesn't have as much performance as we'd like at the moment.
"But it's a foundation that we can build on, and that's all that really matters. It means that we can get there.
"If you look at last year, we didn't have the fastest start at the beginning but we were there or thereabouts and second in the constructors' championship.
"It's a long, long year and I have no doubts that we can compete with these guys."
Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and two-time champion Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) both took part in the session but did not complete a timed lap.
Speaking after the session, Alonso said he would be targeting a podium finish in the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, in Melbourne on March 27.
"We've had a very good pre-season," said Alonso, who finished second behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in last year's drivers' championship.
"We're the team that's driven the most and that has had the fewest problems in terms of reliability.
"In terms of our competitiveness, we'll have to wait until Australia. But the global outlook hasn't changed a lot since last year.
"McLaren will be in there again at the end. It seems that Mercedes have improved. And Red Bull and Ferrari will be at the front."
The Spaniard believes Vettel and his Australian team-mate Mark Webber will start the year as "the two favourites, in theory", but says his team are looking to make a statement of intent in the opening race.
"The podium is the aim for someone who's targeting the title," said Alonso.
"Arriving in Australia and not thinking like that would be too pessimistic. But we know that anything could happen. When everyone has shown their cards, there could be some surprises."
Times
1. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1min 43.814sec, 2. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams) 1:44.333, 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 1:44.560