Alex Withington: Vandoorne going out just before lunch suggests @McLarenF1, external don't understand the issue yet but know it won't cost them much time if it stops now.

Ishan Yasintha: Seems like McLaren is struggling to get the car working as a package.. at least you know the engine is competitive and hopefully they’ll sort things out before Melbourne McLaren fans can only stay hopeful and admire the papaya orange until then

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:20.396

2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:20.596 *

3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.649

4 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Toro Rosso-Honda 1:20.973 *

5 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas-Ferrari 1:21.298 *

6 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams-Mercedes 1:21.588 *

7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:21.738

8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India-Mercedes 1:21.936 *

9 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.194 *

10 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren-Renault 1:24.773 **

** = time set on super-soft tyre; * = soft; all others medium

Stoffel Vandoorne managed three laps before lunch, taking McLaren's total for the morning to seven.

Stoffel Vandoorne sneaks in a lap to take his total for the day so far to five. Here's hoping for a smoother afternoon at McLaren.

Meanwhile, Toro Rosso's productive morning continues as Pierre Gasly completes his 50th lap of the day just before lunch.

Stoffel Vandoorne DOES get back out on the track right before lunch.

Hang on!

Five minutes to go until lunch.

Stoffel Vandoorne remains stuck on the four laps he did before his McLaren had a power problem that has kept him in the garage ever since.

Will he get out before the end of the morning session? It's not looking likely.

Dan Knutson
F1 journalist in Barcelona

There are many more people in the paddock on this warm, sunny day compared to here last week.

Image source, .

Euan: I wonder if Mclaren were running with the hypersofts in first test because they had more troubles than most teams heating up the tyres?

Mill Felt: If alarm bell's are not ringing by now at McLaren than I can only conclude they are amateurs of the worst kind.

Approaching lunch - and thankfully today we do get lunch after it was cancelled on the second and fourth days last week - and there's six drivers out on the track.

Sebastian Vettel is racking up the laps and is up to 71 for the morning, six shy of Valtteri Bottas' total, while Max Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson are also on out there with him.

Ryan Scott Hamilton: We'll never know how competitive McLaren will be until Melbourne qualifying. Last year they had the chassis but not the engine. All they need is for the engine to be semi competitive and they'll be in the mix

Lex: It's going to be a shock when Sauber win the first race of the season, with the Mercedes' and Ferrari's as back markers...

Gareth: The only positive about McLaren breaking down is that it gives everyone the chance to admire it. It is an absolute thing of beauty

Dan Knutson
F1 journalist in Barcelona

Image source, .

The drivers have been telling us they have to be contortionists to get in and out of the cars because of the halo. Many of the halos have aero bits on them, so the drivers can’t simply grab on to the bar to lever themselves in and out. But we have not seen any driver in action because of the garage screens. We will have to wait for the race weekends where the screens are banned.

Sound the change at the top of the timesheet klaxon!

Sebastian Vettel has been getting closer and closer and now finally goes top of the pile with a 1:20.396, exactly two tenths quicker than Valtteri Bottas.

That time came on the mediums.

DT: Far too many snap judgments going on. Reading some tweets today you’d think McLaren’s season is over and Torro Rosso are the main challengers to Mercedes. After 2 or 3 proper days testing!

Geme Oaks: Please! Any update from McLaren?!

Not much to say unfortunately. There's still no sign of Stoffel Vandoorne returning to the track anytime soon.

There's a familiar feel to the top three on the timesheet at the moment - Mercedes leading the way ahead of Ferrari and Red Bull.

Max Verstappen has just done a personal best with 1:20.649. Less than a tenth of a second between the top three.