Fernando Alonso steered his Ferrari to the quickest single lap of Thursday's preseason Formula One testing, as the Italian team continues to show signs it is poised for a positive start to the competition.

Running on soft tires, the Spaniard put in the pacesetting effort before the lunch break of 1 minute, 21.875 seconds in front of the home crowd at the Catalunya Circuit.

This is the third straight day of practice for Alonso, who skipped the first test in Jerez.

New Sauber pilot Nico Hulkenberg clocked the second fastest lap, while Romain Grosjean came in right behind in his Lotus.

After Friday's closing session, preseason testing returns to the Barcelona track next week ahead of the season-opening Australian GP on March 17.