Summary

  • Day 3 of 2nd and final pre-season test in Barcelona

  • Impressive Vettel clocks fastest time in testing so far

  • Stoffel Vandoorne stops on the track in McLaren before lunch

  • Alonso criticises McLaren's Honda engine

  • Get involved #whatshouldalonsodo

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

  1. And that's lunch.

    Plenty for the drivers to chew on during the break. I'll post times and laps in a second, as well as another little teaser.

  2. Stoffel Vandoorne grinds to a halt at Turn 10 on his second lap after returning to the circuit. 

  3. red flag

    Red flag

    It's the McLaren again...

  4. And Lewis Hamilton improves with a 1:19.352s. That's his best time in testing so far but three tenths slower than Sebastian Vettel's time...

  5. Good news on McLaren. They've managed to get Stoffel Vandoorne back out on the track just before the lunch. Nothing to worry about then?

    Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has now slapped on some ultra-softs and is sneaking in a lap before lunch...

  6. Lewis Hamilton, on super-softs, does his best time of the day... but it's not enough to reclaim top spot.

    The Briton does a 1:20.018 on super-softs to move into P2.

  7. It's hotting up with 10 minutes to go before lunch. Lewis Hamilton has come out to play. Will he deliver a response to those hot Sebastian Vettel laps?

  8. Get involved #bbcf1

    Chris Marsh: Is this the point where Lewis does those performance laps we were promised?  

    Michael Simmons: Ocon doing a great job as Force India have problems according to @SChecoPerez just over 1s behind Ferrari same tyres Spot on!!!  

  10. Another lap, another improvement by Sebastian Vettel. This time it's a 1:19.024. 

    He's fastest of all through the first two sectors but appears to ease off in the third. Definitely more in that Ferrari bag.

    If Mercedes and Red Bull were people, I'd say they were shrugging their shoulders in indifference. They don't appear desperate to flex their muscles in response just yet.

  11. Vettel lowers the benchmark

    Boom!

    Sebastian Vettel produces the fastest lap we've seen in Barcelona across the seven days so far, doing a 1:19.164.

  12. Sebastian Vettel heads back out and he's got ultra-softs on his Ferrari. 

    Will we see another improvement before lunchtime?

  13. Watch out for another teaser at 12:00 GMT. I'll promise to make it a real head scratcher this time. The last two have been easy.

  14. Who am I?

    .Getty Images

    Oh, hi Mika!

    Yes the fabulous Finn is the answer to the teaser I posed at 11:08 GMT. 

    Mika Hakkinen won the world title with McLaren in 1998 and 1999. Maybe they should check if he is free...

  15. Go! Go! Go!

    Right, we are back under way. 

    Thirty minutes to go until lunch.

  16. Problems for McLaren?

    While we wait for the recovery truck to remove it from the track, I'll be revealing the name of the chap with the swirly face a few entries down at 11:30 GMT.

    Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button have been suggested. Both wrong.

  18. red flag

    Red flag

    Stoffel Vandoorne has come to a stop just before the first corner.

  19. Speaking of McLaren...

  20. McLaren presser cancelled

    F1 journalist Dan Knutson in Barcelona: McLaren’s Eric Boullier and Honda’s Yusuke Hasegawa were scheduled to meet the media late this afternoon, but the team has now canceled that session. 

    Given all the problems Honda is having, plus Fernando Alonso’s negative comments yesterday, there would not be much of a positive slant that Boullier and Hasegawa could put on the current situation.