Day seven of eight Formula 1 testing days (final day is Friday)
Pierre Gasly crashes in Red Bull to bring out red flags
Lewis Hamilton with an early spin in his Mercedes
McLaren have been the fastest on Tuesday (Lando Norris) and Wednesday (Carlos Sainz)
Get involved: What are the best and worst-looking F1 cars of all time? #bbcf1
Valtteri Bottas has had 11 laps out there already this afternoon, but pure pace is clearly not Mercedes' main aim at the moment as his best lap of 1:22.883 is more than four seconds slower than anyone else.
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
McLaren have been making headlines this week, with the fastest time on each of the first two days, first by Lando Norris and then by Carlos Sainz.
But they are under no illusions that they are about to be fighting at the front. Sainz’s time of one minute 17.144 seconds on Wednesday was the fastest from the opening six days of pre-season testing but he said: “We are not going to be on pole in Australia if that is the question, we are not going to win at all.
"This is just testing and we are just doing more qualifying-based runs so we can see what you can do with the car. I guess we need to wait and see what the others can do on those runs.”
As for the team’s general progress, Sainz said: “Every time I have been on track, the car has been progressing. We are understanding the underlying balance issues and we are correcting them little by little but there are big areas of improvement where we need to keep working and we are still not where we want to be."
Image source, Getty ImagesWhich are the best and worst-looking F1 cars of all time?
We've had a brilliant response to our call for best and worst-looking F1 cars ever, so here are some more of the best ones...
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Richard Yardley: How can I possibly choose between the lotus 79 and Jordan 191? Both things of beauty.
Neil Hughes: Best looking car? Might be the 1983 Brabham BT52....the Ronseal of the F1 world. A metal arrow with 1000bhp in the back.
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Valtteri Bottas is in the Mercedes this afternoon after a very busy morning for Lewis Hamilton, with no-one driving for longer than his 85 laps.
Lance Stroll is the first man out in a quiet start to the session. No-one else is rushing their lunch.
We're back.
All this talk of food has made me hungry, so I'm off too.
We'll be back just before 13:00 GMT for all the news from the second session and lots more best and worst looking F1 cars of all time.
Back soon.
Ferrari have earned their lunches.
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These are the times from the opening session today. No problems for anyone, as all 10 teams did at least 37 laps.
The order
All the top six were fastest on the C5 tyres, as was Russell. Giovinazzi was on the C4s, Hamilton the C2s and Magnussen a developmental tyre.
Image source, F1Chris Medland
F1 journalist in Barcelona
Valtteri Bottas has given pretty honest assessments of where Mercedes stand during pre-season so far, and despite a major update to the W10 this week the Finn was still placing his team behind Ferrari in the pecking order.
"Red Bull seem in good shape as well. I think between us two the differences are not massive. In testing it's difficult to read in detail but my feeling - our feeling - is Ferrari is a bit ahead of both of us. Honestly the whole field looks like it's a bit tighter than last year or the year before, but it's only guessing. You never know what people bring to Melbourne."
Unbeknown to him, as Bottas was delivering those words, Charles Leclerc was cranking up the pace outside, eventually lowering the quickest time seen so far in testing to a 1:16.231 - just 0.058s off last year's pole position time set by Lewis Hamilton here. It all serves to back up that analysis from Bottas at this stage.
Image source, Chris MedlandWhich are the best and worst-looking F1 cars of all time?
My eyes! My eyes! Time for some more awful-looking cars.
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Ian McCormack: Dare I say the current McLaren paint job is terrible - it simply doesn't shout glamour like an F1 car should. Just as I post that your survey concludes that McLaren is the best looking.....beauty in the eye of the beholder it appears.
5and3:Simon Dawson: Most from this year (2012) were just plain ugly due to the new regs but the Force India took the biscuit - VJM05 - yuk!
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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Don't get too excited about the fact that the fastest testing lap times are so close to the 2018 pole - testing times are usually super-fast because the conditions help them be so.
Having said that, it is impressive how fast the cars are despite the aerodynamic rule changes.
Charles Leclerc, on the softest tyres possible moves further clear thanks to a 1:16.361.He is very much looking like being our lunchtime leader.
Lewis Hamilton is back out there, on the C3 mediums so what he can do for us in the final 15 minutes of the session?
Could Charles Leclerc become a legend with the Tifosi? They've not had a world champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and what can Leclerc do in his opening season at Ferrari?
He's got a great car and he's a great talent.
Oh, and he's now leading the way with a 1:16.658.
Which are the best and worst-looking F1 cars of all time?
Who wants some more good-looking cars? Here you go.
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The Music Scout Podcast: For me, the Brawn GP 001 car was an absolute icon in 2009 with its bold colour mix and that was certainly matched with its performance that year!
Chris Lord: Jaguar in the early noughties was a lovely car to look at!
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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Wednesday was another low-key day for Mercedes, and the team’s press release at the end of it - they have not done any interviews yet this week - suggested all was not well.
“We got a lot of laps which is a good thing, but we've come across a few little hurdles,” said Lewis Hamilton.
"We're just working our way through them, trying to be as diligent as possible trying to understand the causes - which is exactly what testing is for. Everyone is working flat-out and I'm sure we will get there. You need days like this (on Wednesday) to be able to bring light to the things that we need to work on.”
Technical director James Allison said they had encountered ‘graining’ problems with the tyres on Hamilton’s race-simulation run, and that while he expected that to be a widespread problem this year, they needed to “make sure we have a good way of handling it by the time the racing season begins.
Image source, Getty ImagesCharles Leclerc now joins Alexander Albon in the now-not-so-exclusive 1.16s club. A lap of 1:16.949 on the C4 tyres. Those red cars are fast, yet again, and a good recovery after a frustrating day on Wednesday.
It's always nice when the teams post some social media footage of their drivers in action. From two angles as well! Renault are spoiling us.
Hulkenberg fifth as things stand.
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