Lotus' Grosjean leads final day of F1 tests

Scarperia, Italy: Romain Grosjean of Lotus was again fastest on the third and final day of Formula One testing at the Mugello circuit.

The Frenchman clocked 1 minute, 21.035 seconds on Thursday, 0.232 seconds ahead of two-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, with Fernando Alonso of Ferrari third.

Grosjean was also fastest on Wednesday, and two weeks ago he and Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen each finished on the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Grosjean was again fastest on the third and final day of testing at the Mugello circuit.

Grosjean and Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber had led the second day of testing on Wednesday. Grosjean was quickest in the morning, and Kobayashi then matched the Frenchman's time to the thousandth of a second in the afternoon session.

Grosjean and Kobayashi each clocked 1 minute, 21.603 seconds, with two-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull third, 0.222 behind. Red Bull's Mark Webber was fourth, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa fifth in dry conditions.

On Tuesday, Ferrari's Alonso was fastest in heavy rain.

On Thursday, Alonso had trouble early on when he drove his F2012 into a barrier, causing damage to the front wing and corner of the car, although he was uninjured.

These were the first in-season tests in Formula One in four years.

The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix on May 13.

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