Rosberg: Mercedes focuses on reliability

Nico Rosberg was once again the most diligent during the Jerez tests by completing 151 laps (668km), which made him the most active with 308 laps in total over his two days of testing. If the vice-world champion only set the third time of the session, he confirmed that the priority of Mercedes was concerned about the reliability of the W06 Hybrid and its new Power Unit.

“Our goal was to race because reliability was our weakness last year. We lost points because of that,” underlined Nico Rosberg. “It is important to identify the problems while we still have time before Melbourne (the Australian GP will be played on March 15). We will have less time to resolve issues if they are identified in Barcelona (Spain). »

If the Mercedes W06 Hybrid has shown itself to be very reliable so far, the Brackley team noted a new breakdown which blocked Nico Rosberg. " We have had a fuel problem and the engine stopped, but we were able to easily repair it. We have identified certain weaknesses of the car but they have been resolved. We have also experienced telemetry issues where the car was no longer transmitting data. »

Nico Rosberg has said that Mercedes does not focus on performance, testing the Team Ferrari seem to be closely followed by the reigning world champion team. “We are keeping an eye on the opposition, and on Ferrari in particular which was a revelation for us these days. »

Lewis Hamilton will take over from the Mercedes W06 Hybrid during the final day of testing.

Discover the photos of the winter tests in Jerez by clicking on this link.

Test times in Jerez. Day 3

1. Felipe Nasr? Sauber – 1’21”545? 108 rounds
2. Kimi Raikkonen? Ferrari +0”205? 92 rounds
3. Nico Rosberg? Mercedes + 0 »437? 151 rounds
4. Felipe Massa? Williams +0 »731 ? 71 rounds
5. Pastor Maldonado? Lotus + 1 »168? 96 rounds
6. Carlos Sainz Jr? Toro Rosso +1 »642 ? 137 rounds
7. Daniel Ricciardo ? Red Bull +2 »356 ? 48 rounds
8. Fernando Alonso ? McLaren +14 »008 ? 32 rounds