Summary

  • Penultimate day of the final pre-season test

  • Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes posts fastest time

  • Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg set fastest overall time of Barcelona tests yesterday

  • First race is the Australian Grand Prix on 15 March

  1. Cheeriopublished at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Thanks for your company and contributions today.

    Andrew Benson's report will be on the website very soon.

    Please join us again tomorrow. The final day of pre-season testing 2015 starts at 08:00 GMT.

  2. Final pre-season test, day three times and laps completedpublished at 17:02 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:23.022 (76)

    2. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1:23.262 (102)

    3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:23.276 (136)

    4. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1:24.191 (132)

    5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1:24.200 (116)

    6. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1:24.477 (123)

    7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:24.939 (158)

    8. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1:25.225 (39)

    9. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:25.742 (128)

  3. Chequered flagpublished at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    You can stick a fork in this day of testing. We are all done.

    One more day to come tomorrow and then attention can finally turn to the opening race of the season in Australia in a fortnight.

    Full times coming up.

  4. F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Barcelonapublished at 16:52 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    "Lewis Hamilton, who has done 76 laps, and Kevin Magnussen, who did 39, are the only two drivers not to complete over 100 laps today."

  5. Red flagpublished at 16:49 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Carlos Sainz, moments after posting his best time of the day, slows to a halt at turn three.

  6. Super-soft shake-uppublished at 16:49 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    As before lunch, we have a few drivers out there on the super-softs looking for some Hollywood times.

    Carlos Sainz is one of those in the Toro Rosso, going fourth with a 1:24.191.

    Lotus' Romain Grosjean is up to fifth after a 1:24.200 on the same tyre.

  7. F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Barcelonapublished at 16:39 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    "Honda F1 boss Yasuhisa Arai and McLaren racing director Eric Boullier have just finished a media briefing, following the curtailment of their day's running with an oil leak. Boullier said the situation was 'not so negative or disappointing' because 'we were not expecting to cover 100 laps every day'.

    "As for the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks' time, Boullier said: 'We won't be as ready as we'd like but we will do our best.'"

  8. Green flagpublished at 16:36 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Ericsson's car is taken away and we're off again.

  9. Red flagpublished at 16:26 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Marcus Ericsson has stopped his Sauber at turn three.

  10. My car's prettier than yours - #bbcf1published at 16:24 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    We're asking which car you think is the looker of 2015.

    Dan White: "It's got to be the Mercedes.... Looks a little like the 2006 McLaren from the front, with its thin nose section."

    anthony wyatt: "Force India or Sauber. Can't make me mind up. That's an OAP for you."

    Charles Crook: "Of the current lot the black and white Red Bull is the best looking, even if its just a temporary paint job."

    Androsid: "Force India is one #beautifulbeast"

    Of course, the discussion via #bbcf1 quickly turned to classics of the past, with the Jordan 191, Benetton B194, Arrows A20 and the JPS Lotus all getting shout outs.

    Jo Lantru even suggested the stunning motor below. I'm not sure we can accept this one though.

    Jeremy Clarkson
  11. Hamilton goes quickestpublished at 16:14 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    As we enter the final hour the gloves come off and Lewis Hamilton immediately jumps the Mercedes to the top of the pile.

    On the soft tyre, the world champion does a 1:23.022, two-tenths faster than the previous best today by Felipe Massa, which don't forget was a lap done on the super-soft Pirelli.

    Lewis Hamilton's MercedesImage source, Getty Images
  12. One hour leftpublished at 16:02 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Sadly we've not had too much in the way of tumbling lap times to report with the teams switching to longer runs since lunch.

    Still, here's where we're at. The times have not change much since the break but note the number of laps piled on.

    1. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1:23.262 (102 laps)

    2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:23.276 (125)

    3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:23.648 (61)

    4. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1:24.477 (103)

    5. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:24.939 (143)

    6. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1:25.225 (39)

    7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:25.742 (111)

    8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1:27.950 (105)

    9. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1:26.330 (121)

  13. Williams call time on Massa's pre-seasonpublished at 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Williams tweet:, external "And that's day [three] finished for us and @MassaFelipe19's winter test programme completed. Next stop Melbourne."

    Well not quite. Bottas has to have another go tomorrow.

  14. Magnussen: 'Great to be back'published at 15:50 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Kevin Magnussen on Twitter:, external "Great to be back in the car today. The #McLarenHonda feels great! Plenty more to come from this one. Thanks for all the support today guys!"

  15. Hair-raising time for Carlospublished at 15:48 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Toro Rosso tweet:, external "And this is what happens when you take your helmet off after 121 laps!! @carlosainz #HelmetHair"

    Toro RossoImage source, Toro Rosso
  16. The lovely, lovely Sauberpublished at 15:41 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Did I mention that I like the look of the new Sauber C34? Because I do. Very much. Nice shade of blue.

    In fact, the wholesale winter rhinoplasty undertaken on those hideous 2014 noses has resulted in a rather handsome bunch of F1 cars.

    Let me know your favourite of the new breed using #bbcf1.

    Marcus Ericsson in the SauberImage source, Getty Images
  17. Confirmation from McLarenpublished at 15:34 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    McLaren tweet:, external "An oil leak has stopped play, so that's a wrap for today. We'll be back tomorrow for more #F1Testing."

  18. Bad luck returns to bite McLaren and Hondapublished at 15:31 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    "Oh dear. Just when things were suddenly looking up for McLaren, they hit another problem.

    "After Jenson Button completed 101 laps on Friday and Kevin Magnussen another 38 this morning with no issues, it was beginning to look as if they might - just might - have got over the hill on the reliability front.

    "But after the eagle-eyed Ben Edwards spotted that Magnussen's car had been wheeled back into the garage trailing fluid, the team have now called it a day.

    "That fluid was oil, from a leak. McLaren now have just eight hours' running to sort themselves out before first practice at the Australian Grand Prix."

  19. Day over for McLarenpublished at 15:27 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Ben Edwards' mince pies didn't fail him.

    There was indeed a leak on the McLaren. Oil to be precise.

    Game over after just 39 laps. Tough on Kevin Magnussen.

  20. Whither Kev?published at 15:05 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2015

    Now that Mercedes are back up and running the wooden spoon for laps completed has passed to McLaren.

    Kevin Magnussen has done just one lap since lunch, moving his tally to 39. The 100 laps done by Jenson Button yesterday does not look in danger of being emulated.

    Worth remembering, of course, that BBC commentator Ben Edwards reported a fluid leak on the MP4-30 earlier (see 13:36).

    Kevin MagnussenImage source, Getty Images