Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

"There has been a lot of talk this season about whether Fernando Alonso made a mistake in leaving Ferrari for McLaren just as the Italian team improved their performance. But the Spaniard himself has been steadfast in his insistence that he has no regrets, pointing out he was not interested in 'coming second two more times' had he stayed to the end of his contract. And he continues to say the same here, saying he was 'not surprised' to see Ferrari's upturn and pointing out they are still some way from Mercedes.

"'We had a tough year in 2014 but even with that we were (around) third and fourth places in the championship until five races to go,' he said. 'Now they are second and fourth so they made a step forward. In performance, it looks more because Williams and Red Bull are a little bit under-performing right now.'"

Welcome back to our coverage of second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

After a three-week break, Mercedes picked up from where they had left off as Nico Rosberg finished fastest in first practice a couple of hours ago, just pipping team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren, despite bringing updates to Barcelona, did not fare so well, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button down in 15th and 16th respectively.

They've had a couple of hours to make tweaks, with second practice getting under way at 13:00 BST.

"Predatory" is how McLaren described the new look to their car for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Image source, McLaren

Sadly, they were about as predatory as a mouse in today's first practice, finishing three seconds behind the pace-setting Mercedes.

Image source, Getty Images

Will things get better this afternoon?

Right, as the drivers venture off for a spot of tapas I'm going to dig out my sausage roll as we break for lunch.

I'll leave you with Andrew Benson's first practice report but join us again from 12:30 BST for second practice. Nice one.

Right then, it is almost time for us to temporarily call time on our live coverage of Spanish Grand Prix practice. Before we do head off, I'll leave you with a couple of FP1 facts:

• Ferrari have been the quickest non-Mercedes in every FP1 in 2015

• Carlos Sainz has been in the top-8 in FP1 at every round in 2015

• Force India have never been in the top-10 in this session in 2015

Mercedes' Paddy Lowe, via Formula1.com:, external "The circuit seems pretty slow overall compared to February. It's early days but it's an encouraging start."

Cracking showing from Toro Rosso as they finished the session with the fifth and sixth fastest times. Carlos Sainz (fifth) in particular is looking good at his first home grand prix, with his best of 1:28.132 just three tenths of a second off Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.

A pretty uneventful first practice session but good showings from reserve drivers Raffaele Marciello, Jolyon Palmer and Susie Wolff in their outings, finishing ahead of McLaren's Fenando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Miles Hallett: Ferrari 312 t2, classic design.

Image source, Getty Images

Clay Regazzoni driving said Ferrari way back in 1976.

Matt Everitt: Whilst tinged with sadness, the 1994 Williams was sleek and classic. Beautiful livery!

Image source, Getty Images

11. Hulkenberg 12. Marciello 13. Palmer 14. Wolff 15. Alonso 16. Button 17. Perez 18. Maldonado 19. Stevens 20. Merhi

1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Vettel 4. Raikkonen 5. Sainz 6. Verstappen 7. Kvyat 8. Massa 9. Ricciardo 10. Nasr

NICO ROSBERG FINISHES FASTEST IN FIRST PRACTICE FOR THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX.

Something is not quite right with the balance of the McLaren it seems after their last couple of set-up tweaks, Jenson Button complains the balance is all over the place, before Fernando Alonso pulls off a late 360 degree spin at the exit of Turn 11.

Image source, Lotus

Everyone in Lotus garage are focused on the monitors for the final few seconds of the session. It has been another good showing from Jolyon Palmer, who is 13th fastest but Pastor Maldonado has had a few problems and only has the 18th best time of the session.

Daniel Ricciardo manages to squeeze a lap time in before the timer hits zero, a 1:29.572 slotting him in at P11.

Into the final five minutes and this is how it looks at the top of the timesheet. Nico Rosberg heads his team-mate by just 0.070s, with Sebastian Vettel just under a second behind Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton runs off at Turn 13 and Mercedes tweets that the world champion isn't 100% happy with the set-up. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo has finally returned to the circuit for the final seven minutes.

Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"Good news. Daniel Ricciardo is in the car and about to go out. He now has that new short nose. Daniil Kvyat ran it at the start of the session and Dan will have it so they can get his feedback."

Image source, McLaren

McLaren:, external Both drivers are back in the garage. They're making a few changes & getting ready for their last run of FP1.

Adam Laiolo: No love for Alonso's Renault of '04?

Image source, Getty Images

Adam: That's a predatory livery.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

And that would be the 1997 Jordan Peugeot.