Felipe Massa is once again racking up the laps - 28 and counting so far this morning and 196 for the two days of testing so far this week.

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These are Umar Farooq Khawaja's slowest three teams prediction for 2017. 

Choose yours here.

... nerves settled. Fernando Alonso emerges onto the circuit and subsequently sets a personal best for the day - a 1:34.732.

I start to get a little nervous when the McLaren spends an extended period of time off the track. 

It's been half an hour since we last saw Fernando Alonso whizzing (or should that be trundling?) around...

F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Barcelona: Both Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel completed 168 laps yesterday – that is 2.5 races distances for each of them. 

Nico Rosberg racked up 172 laps in Barcelona last year. 

The question is now: Which driver has done the most laps in a single day of F1 testing – either in Barcelona or at another circuit? The figures for private testing – say Michael Schumacher pounding around Fiorano all day in a Ferrari – won’t be public knowledge. But what about general testing?

One of the journalists in the pressroom vaguely recalls Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia doing marathon sessions but can’t remember the details.

Does anyone out there have the answer?

Ben Thompson: 08:52. I made that Gerhard’s Bergers Photoshop thing during testing last year. You’ve just made my day!!

Top work, Ben. Bask in the recognition you deserve!

1) Valtteri Bottas - 22 laps

2) Pascal Wehlrein - 20 laps

3) Max Verstappen - 19 laps

4) Felipe Massa - 18 laps

5) Romain Grosjean - 17 laps

6) Kimi Raikkonen - 15 laps

7) Nico Hulkenberg - 13 laps

8) Sergio Perez - 9 laps

9) Fernando Alonso - 6 laps

10) Carlos Sainz - 1 lap

Image source, Getty Images

Almost 90 minutes in and Fernando Alonso has done just the six laps. His only timed effort is a 1:35.717, nine seconds slower than anyone else.

A tentative start.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein had his first taste of Formula 1 2017 on Tuesday after missing the first test because of the back injury sustained in his nasty Race of Champions crash. “I am feeling good,” he said. “I jumped into the car and no pain, nothing. I was pretty happy by lunchtime – totally fine, no issues. I will be back Wednesday morning in the car and let’s go from there.”

But the former Manor driver admitted to being short of fitness. 

“Of course you feel tired. But I don’t have pain. It is two separate things. I think it is good that my back is not making any trouble, or is painful after a few laps. That is a positive about today. In terms of my own level, I will be back soon. For sure the first race will be quite tough and also the second, because everything is new - new team, new engine, new tyres, new regulations. I lost two days of testing. Of course in the beginning I will lack something but I will catch up quite quickly in a few races and then I will be back where I should be.”

Sergio Perez and Pascal Wehrlein take the total number of drivers on the timesheet to eight. 

Perez does a 1:24.566 in the Force India while Wehrlein laps in 1:26.416 in the Sauber. They were done on soft and medium tyres respectively.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has improved his time on the softs to 1:22.170. Stays P2, though.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

The idea behind the rule changes for 2017 was not just faster, better looking cars, it was also tyres that allowed the drivers to actually drive them. Over the last six years, just how unhappy the drivers were with the Pirelli tyres was kept under wraps to a large extent. It took freak circumstances - and some hard digging by one or two journalists - to reveal it. Eventually, though, it was agreed to force Pirelli to produce what drivers might call ‘proper racing tyres’ - ones that can be driven hard pretty much all the time; not just for one lap and sometimes not even that. And it seems to have worked. 

The feedback from the first test was generally positive, and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen - one of the good guys - continued that theme on Tuesday.

“It’s such a big relief to be able to push hard on one lap but also more than one,” Magnussen said. “The tyres do have degradation but there is still so much grip and you can still push really hard. It is so much more fun to drive. In one lap it is really good fun, really impressive to drive and in race distance it is much more fun. You feel like you are going fast. With the old cars, it was sometimes embarrassing. Some corners you were not even full throttle between them even though there was a straight.”

Just over an hour in and Carlos Sainz takes the Toro Rosso out for the first time today. 

1) Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) - 1:21.229 - ultrasoft

2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:22.172 - soft

3) Felipe Massa (Williams) - 1:22.455 - soft

4) Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 1:22.926 - medium

5) Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) - 1:24.638 - medium

6) Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 1:35.717 - ultrasoft

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Darren Hewitt: Just to be a bit different these are my quickest F1 cars for 2017. McLaren are sandbagging. 

Who do you think will be the fastest and slowest cars in 2017? Choose here.

Kimi Raikkonen gets his first time of the day on the board as a 1:22.926 on medium tyres puts P4.

I digress.

Felipe Massa, fastest on Tuesday, gets his name on the timesheet, doing a 1:22.455 on the soft tyre. 

Almost one hour in and Valtteri Bottas' early effort of 1:21.229 still leads the way. That was on the quicker ultrasofts, though.

I mean, only testing can lead to such social media wonders such as this photoshop of Gerhard Berger running a burger being created.

I wonder what sort of burger Gerhard goes for?

Image source, .

Great times, Leonardo, great times. 

If you fancy checking out some classics from the #thingskimifindsok hashtag, as well as some other funnies from last year's testing, check out this piece about them here.

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