Are we jumping to conclusions with all these warnings of jumping to conclusions? And if so, what should we conclude?

Who could possibly say, would be my conclusion.

Let us conclude.  

Dan Knutson in Barcelona: "Valtteri Bottas is doing a 66-lap grand prix distance. The crew is showing him the pit board to count down the laps. He started the run on the soft compound Pirellis."

Dan Knutson
F1 journalist in Barcelona

Members of the Spanish media, who have been hanging around the McLaren garage, are reporting that Stoffel Vandoorne will not be out on the track again today. 

He completed 29 laps before the team announced they needed to change the car's engine.

Image source, Reuters

The Ferrari goes for another blat on the soft compound and this time he makes it stick. 

A 1:20.960 for Raikkonen takes him 0.023s clear of Hamilton, who did his time on the supersoft tyre.

I say again... hmmmm.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Let's not get too excited about Kimi Raikkonen's lap time on the soft tyre just yet. Yes, it is only 0.2secs off Lewis Hamilton's best, which was set on the super-soft, and, yes, Hamilton's best on the soft is 0.6secs slower than the Ferrari's. 

But... a) on his super-soft lap, Hamilton was 0.3secs slower in the last sector than on his best soft lap, which suggests there is at least that much more time in the car; b) we don't yet know the accurate tyre off-set between compounds for these new 2017 tyres; c) we won't have a decent idea of what each car could have done on that lap until we see the length of the run and can correct for fuel up to a point; d) even then, we still won't know the actual fuel load; e) only the teams know what engine mode the cars are running in, or anything else about the spec. 

For now, jumping to conclusions is dangerous. More evidence is needed before we can even try that.

Dan Knutson
F1 journalist in Barcelona

Lance Stroll sat down to talk the media after the spin that damaged the front wing of the Williams and ended his day because there is not a spare.

“Second run, just getting to grips with the car,” he said. “Kind of low grip. I just lost the car, it kind of snapped.” 

Asked if he was upset to have to miss out on half a day of testing, the 18-year-old Canadian replied: “No, not at all.”

“It is unfortunate,” he added. “One front wing, a spin, a little winglet [damaged], but that is Formula 1. The car is very complex. There is not a lot of room for error. I’m just getting to grips with the car. A little spin. I drove back to the paddock. Sometimes these things happen, but no, not a dent in the confidence.

“I was actually really confident, really happy in the car the few laps I did. I am looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow, and still plenty of running ahead.”

Image source, Getty Images

Just two cars out there at the moment - Bottas and Magnussen. They both seems to be on race-sim runs.

If I had virtual eyebrows to raise, I would raise them now. 

Kimi Rakkonen's latest run on the soft-compound tyre is a thumping 1:21.198, just two tenths off Hamilton's best time, which was achieved on the quicker supersoft compound. 

Bear in mind also that Hamilton did not lap quicker than a 1:21.7 on the soft tyre.

Hmmmm.

Image source, Getty

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Colombia's Tatiana Calderon will be Sauber's development driver in Formula 1 this year.

The deal means Calderon, who finished 21st in the GP3 feeder category last year, will spend time in Sauber's simulator and with the team at races.

The 23-year-old will race in GP3 for a second season in 2017.

Read more.

Image source, Sauber

Kimi Raikkonen delivers a 1:22.012 on the soft compound, around three tenths off the pace of the Mercedes of Hamilton on the same rubber. 

Hamilton's quickest time - a 1:20.9 - was set on the supersoft compound. 

That's the first time this week the Scuderia have done that. 

Let's see how they get on.

Valtteri Bottas is also pounding around in the Mercedes but isn't pulling up too many trees just yet.

He's circulating in the 1:25s on the soft tyre, some four seconds off Lewis Hamilton's pace on the same compound. 

Giovinazzi is also improving for Sauber, albeit still well off the pace. 

On the medium tyre, he hauls the Sauber round in a time of 1:28.920, over two seconds off 10th-placed Palmer on the same rubber.

Briton Palmer is not hanging about now he's finally been let off the leash.

Seven laps down already and a best time of 1:26.522 in the bag - three tenths of a second down on the McLaren of Vandoorne, which has done 29 laps. 

The Renault is also on the medium tyre while Vandoorne's time was set on the soft. 

Early days, of course, but the Renault looks pretty tidy.