Vandoorne briefly takes McLaren top of the pile with a 1:24.3 on the ultrasofts, but he's not there long before Raikkonen does a 1:22.6 on the soft-shod Ferrari.

Raikkonen then does a 1:22.3 to further increase his advantage.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Few doubt that when everything shakes out, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will be clear of the rest - Gene Haas, boss of the Haas team, actually said it out loud - but on Wednesday the third fastest car was actually the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, tyre-corrected. They have been doing much of their running on the medium tyre, but the auguries are good for a car whose aesthetics have won wide praise, and share a lot with the Mercedes.

“The medium tyre feels quite stiff around here and difficult to warm up but the laps I am doing I feel quite good with the car,” Sainz said. “I have some fine-tuning to do but feeling good. Really happy so far with the feeling of the new cars. Not trickier to drive, more demanding physically for the driver, you need to make sure you are at the limit which is not easy because it is further away than last year. You need to make sure you are pushing.”

There have been some Renault-related reliability issues, but Sainz said he was not worried about that. “We knew it would be a tough start because the engine is completely new. It is not going to be easy, we would like to have done a few more laps. But we need to give them a bit more time. They have done a fully new engine which is a big step on power and when it is delivered I am not going to complain. Now the main focus is to improve the reliability.”

Image source, Getty Images

A few more decent laps times are being set now as more drivers switch to slicks. 

Force India are now quickest with a 1:24.893 for Perez. Raikkonen stays second for Ferrari, seven tenths back, while Renaul's Hulkenberg is third in 1:25.628. They're all on the soft tyre.  

They've been tinkering in the McLaren garage for a while but Vandoorne is back out there. Not doing timed laps. Looks like a bit of data collecting.

He's on the ultrasoft Pirellis.

... of the mighty Thierry Boutsen.

Sometimes you unearth some gems while idly browsing Getty Images.

This is one of those times. 

Just look at this fine specimen. 

Epic.

Image source, Getty Images

OK, I think we can declare this track dry now. 

After that initial sighter, Raikkonen does a 1:29.2 followed by a 1:271. 

He's just pumped in a 1:25.707, still some five or so seconds of Ferrari's quickest pace on the soft tyre so far, but getting on for 10 seconds up on what the cars still on inters are doing.

It's a 1:36.1 on the slick tyre for Raikkonen. Several seconds off the pace of the inters. 

We have our first driver going on to slick tyres. 

Kimi Raikkonen is on the soft compound in his Ferrari. Let's see how he does.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Like Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel is enjoying the new cars. "From a driver's point of view it's better everywhere,” he said. “Braking is better, cornering is better, you've got more grip. Then in low-speed corners when arguably the downforce effect is less big, you have more grip from the tyres. It works pretty much like an aspirin, it fixes pretty much everything. It's difficult to compare [to 2016], it's a different animal, different beast.” 

Not every car has been flat through the demanding Turn Three in Barcelona, but the Ferrari has: “It's not the first time, I have been flat in Turn Three and also Turn Nine,” Vettel said. “I think 2010? It's probably similar to that. It's nice you can push the car harder and also for longer. The tyres seem more consistent, which is nice. That's obviously a better, nicer sensation.”

Image source, getty

... Sergio Perez has taken the unique decision of running extreme wets on this clearly drying track. 

He lopes around in a 1:39.430, 10 seconds slower than his rivals but at least, I hope, content. 

Now we've started. 

We have a 1:29 in the bag, people. 

Max Verstappen delivers in the Red Bull. Still on inters.