Lewis Hamilton has the track to himself as Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat head back to the pits.

Lewis Hamilton is out and about and approaching the 70-lap mark in the Mercedes. The world champion makes a slight improvement, but stays fourth, two seconds off the pace.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, PA

"Anyone hoping for a chink in Mercedes' armour has been pretty much disappointed over the last three days. Yes, small issues have stopped both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg once each over the last three days, but between them they have still racked up nearly 500 laps.

"Not only that, but the car looks quick and consistent. Rosberg did admit on Tuesday that the pace of the Ferraris had been 'eye-opening', but there was no real sense of concern: 'Still we are confident that we can start the season well and in terms of development be strong,' he said."

Image source, PA

Kimi Raikkonen breaks into the 1m21s to extend his advantage at the top of the timesheets to one second.

McLaren's Jenson Button is making tiny improvements in terms of lap time, although he remains bottom of the timesheets, five seconds off the pace.

Hurrah! We have cars on track. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button heads out to break the silence.

Image source, EPA

Here's a shot of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes being guided onto the back of a truck by four team mechanics after the world champion spun on track earlier in the session, bringing out the red flag.

Image source, PA

Here's a snapshot of the day's headlines:

• Lewis Hamilton (pictured) completes 52 laps, but his spin brings out the red flag

• McLaren and Jenson Button set their quickest lap of the week after a lengthy delay because of a "trivial issue" with the oil levels

• Red Bull miss much of the morning with an ERS issue

• Marussia's hopes of competing in 2015 are boosted

• Force India say they will make the season opener despite delays with their new car

Nikki McFarlane:, external I'm finding it hard not to get my hopes up for the Ferrari this year. It's got to be better than last year surely!

Matthew Cheshire:, external No strange coincidence that the two teams that most need to be seen to improve have been running at the front. Apart from McLaren.

Luke Tizzard:, external I'd rate Mercedes top, Ferrari look quick, Williams, Sauber & lotus next. If McLaren & Red Bull sort tech issues they'll be up there.

Russian Danill Kvyat pits and the track falls silent.

Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat breaks into double figures as he continues to make up for lost ground, having missed most of the morning session.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

"It would be wise not to get too carried away about the pace of the Ferrari or, especially, the Sauber. These are early days. But perhaps more important than the headline times is the word coming out about the updated Ferrari engine. Lagging at least 40bhp behind the Mercedes last season, it also had poor power delivery and an under-effective energy recovery system.

"But insiders say the Ferrari engineers have found 80bhp over the winter. That sounds a lot, but then Sauber's Felipe Nasr seemed to suggest it might be about right when he said after setting the pace on Tuesday that the 2014 Mercedes he drove in last year's Williams and the 2015 Ferrari engine in his Sauber 'feel very similar'. The problem for them - as well as Renault and Honda - is that Mercedes are believed to have upped their engines power by at least 50bhp, so are very likely still to have an engine advantage. As Nasr said: 'I think the Mercedes cars are hiding a little bit what they can do.'"

Jenson Button is out for a third run, the McLaren driver is down into the 1m27s, 5.335 seconds off the pace.

F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Jerez: "Doing a headcount - literally because you can only see heads above the screens in front of the McLaren garage - I counted 18 mechanics and engineers around Jenson Button's car just before he went back out on the track."

It looks like Red Bull have found a fix as Daniil Kvyat is climbing into the car ready for a second run.

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson has the track to himself for now. Perhaps some of the others chosen to stop for a spot of lunch.

Image source, Getty Images

What are Red Bull trying to hide with their camouflage livery? BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson studies the car's new design features in detail.

McLaren's Jenson Button is seventh fastest, 5.772 seconds off the pace but the team are making progress - albeit very, very slowly.

F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Jerez: "Whatever problem stopped Button exiting the garage a little while ago, it was quickly solved. He returned to the track shortly afterwards and has just set the team's fastest time of the test."

Image source, EPA

Romain Grosjean goes third fastest with a 1:23.802, 1.265 seconds off the pace. Kimi Raikkonen is still the pace-setter.