No drama at McLaren. After a spell in the garage, Jenson Button has been back out this afternoon.

Time for a times and laps update.

Showing my age here but I don't remember these from Mario Kart on the SNES. I remember the red shells, but I guess these were worse?

There's movement on the timing screen as Valtteri Bottas moves into P3 after posting 1:24.522. He has soft tyres on his Williams.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz has surpassed 100 laps for the day. Toro Rosso have shown good reliability in testing. Only Mercedes have done more miles than them.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

There has been another twist in the saga over the format of qualifying. You may remember that a new elimination-style format was approved by the F1 Commission last week, only for Bernie Ecclestone to say it had to be delayed until the Spanish Grand Prix because his people who handle the timing could not get the software and graphics ready in time. 

Well, after a meeting between the teams’ sporting directors at the test in Barcelona, a revised version of the original format has now been agreed. This would have the proposed elimination format retained for the first and second sessions, leaving eight cars for the final shoot-out, which will then be run in the old style, with positions set only at the end, to ensure there are enough cars out on track through the session. 

This new plan will go before the FIA World Council on Friday, but it is far from clear whether it will be accepted - not least because Ecclestone has already made it clear that he is not keen.

Mercedes' programme for the afternoon yesterday involved Lewis Hamilton doing a race sim run, and that appears to be the case for Nico Rosberg today. He did nine laps on the softs and has now switched to mediums.

Since Jenson Button was sent on his way straight after lunch, there hasn't been a peep from McLaren.

They reported having had a minor suspension issue just before the break, trouble again?

F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Barcelona: McLaren is running the updated Honda power unit at this test, and it is definitely a step up from the previous one.

"There is clearly a gain,” McLaren’s Racing Director Eric Boullier said when he talked with the media this afternoon. 

“It is still very early days so we need to do more mileage, and there is more experience to be gained on how to use and exploit it, but yes (there is) far more potential.”

I think we are starting to get closer to finding out just what is capable of stopping Mercedes...

Nico Rosberg is back out after a spell in the Mercedes garage. Lewis Hamilton waited until an hour or so before lunch to put soft tyres on but Rosberg is on them now and is up and running with a 1:28.850.

One hour and 10 minutes after lunch ended, Kevin Magnussen is suited up and ready to return to the circuit. 

Beautiful day in Barcelona, barely a cloud in sight. 

This picture is also a pretty accurate representation of what is happening on track right now - nothing.

May as well go back to reading up about Tom Cruise running.

Well what do you know, it is a thing!

I've lived a sheltered existence.

One hour into the afternoon and nothing much has happened really. It is as you were on the timesheet.

Image source, Getty Images

Not everything has gone swimmingly for Mercedes in testing. 

Lewis Hamilton did a couple of practice pitstops yesterday afternoon, one of them not going as smooth as the team would have liked. Nico Rosberg's programme today has also included some live pitstops and the one he just had now wasn't quite on point.