Drivers quotes after Day 3 at Barcelona

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (Best Time: 1:22.765 —136 Laps)

"It was one of our best days of testing. We could run without a single stop, except for the red flags on track. Maybe we could have been faster on some laps, but in general the feeling was fine and we are more or less happy with the way things are going. Of course there’s always room to improve and work to do.Like I said many times, I don’t like guessing so there’s no point in figuring out where we’ll be in Melbourne. We will try our best as always. This morning I tried the Halo protection device and the difference to the usual driving was surprisingly small. The visibility is just a little bit limited at the front but I don’t think this is the final version of the device, so it can be improved further."

Nico Hulkenberg - Sahara Force India (Best Time: 1:23.251 — 137 Laps)

"137 laps was not a bad way to finish my pre-season and today gave us a lot of indications about the tyres, including the new ultra-soft compound. They are grippier, a step forward from the super-soft, and we will need to learn how to make them work well. I feel we are as prepared as we could be, having gone through a few very productive days with no major interruptions. We went through our full test list again today and now we need to see where we pan out once we get to Melbourne. I see a lot of potential in the VJM09 and I know there is quite a lot in the pipeline, coming later in the season. It's very encouraging and I can't wait to get back to racing again.”

Max Verstappen - Scuderia Toro Rosso (Best Time: 1:23.382 — 159 Laps)

“We had a very good test, both last week and this one, and today we’ve shown once again that the reliability of the car is very good, completing a further 159 laps. It’s good to end my pre-season testing on a high and feeling as confident as I feel after these two weeks here in Barcelona. I’m now looking forward to the first race of the season! We’ve worked hard and made improvements, so it’s time to get started!”

Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG Petronas (Best Time: 1:24.126 — 81 Laps)

"Every session is totally different because we have a limited amount of days and we're really pushing to the maximum in order to make the most of them. Today was a really valuable experience and we learned a lot of useful things for the season ahead. I'm optimistic for the start of the season and looking forward to my final pre-season runs in the car tomorrow."

Felipe Nasr - Sauber F1 Team (Best Time: 1:24.760 — 116 Laps)

“It was another positive day in the new C35 car. We were able to accumulate good mileage on the car, doing a mix of short runs and a race simulation in the afternoon. That was really good, but we still have a lot of work to do. For me the next time in the car will be in Melbourne. I think, as far as the procedures are concerned, I have got myself prepared for the season opener.”

Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing (Best Time: 1:25.141 — 121 Laps)

“We almost got through our complete programme for the day, which was very useful and I feel we are ready for Melbourne. We had a couple of small issues today but nothing significant and it was a good final day. As for what we can expect in Melbourne, to be honest I have no idea! I’ll go there with no expectations and I’ll just do the maximum possible. These few days of testing have all been just about trying to make a better car, for myself and for the team, nothing else matters. We have done everything we can on our side and now we’ll see what happens.”

Felipe Massa - Williams Martini Racing (Best Time: 1min23s193 — 119 Laps)

"Today has been a very positive day. We managed to do our programme without any problems, which included some long runs and also some short runs. We tried the soft and even ultrasoft tyres. Unfortunately I couldn’t do my ultrasoft lap because we had some traffic, but overall it was a very good day and good to understand the car in a better way. I am definitely much happier this week compared to last week. We are almost ready for the first race, which is really when we will have a proper idea of where we are compared to the others, but today was a good day. "

Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG Petronas (Best Time: 1:26.488 — 63 Laps)

"It's been really great splitting the days over testing because it feels like we're testing on eight days rather than just four with how it's worked out. The team has done a fantastic job with the car and we feel that we're probably in a stronger position than last year, especially after the mileage we've done. We've still not pushed the car to the limit though, to really find how to balance it on the knife edge on the timed lap, but personally I feel comfortable right now. It's kind of like building a pyramid, where the single-lap performance is the very pinnacle of the whole thing. At the moment we are building the base with our long running during testing - and the bigger the base, the higher you can ultimately go."

Jolyon Palmer - Renault Formula  One Team (Best Time: 1:27.182 — 98 Laps)

“I watched Kevin notch-up so many laps over the past few days that when my day didn’t start to plan I was thinking ‘why me?!’ Once we sorted the gearbox problem it was great to complete a race simulation without issues. The car feels good and it was annoying to miss out on 100 laps for the day by a mere two laps! I think the team has made good progress with the car since we arrived here last week. I’m looking forward to getting some lower fuel runs as well as a full programme tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean - Haas F1 Team (Best Time: 1:28.110 — 78 Laps)

“Not an easy day, not an easy week for us, so far. The first week of testing went very well. The second has been a bit tricky. We’ve had some challenges with the brake-by-wire system on the car, which has made things a bit complicated. However, we’re working on it. At the end of the day, I had an off on turn nine. So it wasn’t the best finish, but I think now we know where to look to get the car back to where it should be. Hopefully, tomorrow is a much better day.”

Fernando Alonso - McLaren Honda (Best Time: 1:24.870 — 118 Laps)

“I’m quite happy with our reliability so far. We’ve worked really hard over the winter and the answers we’ve got – especially on the power unit side – over the last few weeks are quite positive. In terms of performance, we are on standby at the moment, as it’s difficult to read the times in winter testing as they are always changing. We’ll wait for Australia: the same start time, everyone on the track, the same fuel loads and the same tyres for everybody, and then we’ll get the answer. I think there’s still a lot of work to do for us, but hopefully we are much closer than last year on the performance side.

“On the power unit side, there is still some potential to unlock in terms of performance, and also in the next steps that we need to take for the following engines that will come over the first few races. On the chassis side, there are still many things to be tested: some new concepts that we have on the car aerodynamically, and a new re-design on the back of the car that we need to keep studying and understanding how to use that area to maximise our potential.

“At the end of the day, I’ve had three days testing the car – not including the running we lost due to a mechanical issue. When you finish pre-season testing you always feel that there are still many things to test and work on in the car, and I feel the same now. I’m happy with the job we’ve done these past two weeks, but I’m sure during the first two or three races more potential will come, because we’ll have had more track time.”