Summary

  • 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

Live Reporting

Michael Emons

  1. Max is happy

    No Max Verstappen today, although 128 laps were done yesterday by the Dutchman. After which, he tweeted...

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  2. Stroll an early pace setter

    Six drivers have set times so far today, although Lewis Hamilton's was more than two minutes so that doesn't really count.

    Of the other five, Lance Stroll has the best mark with a 1:19.138, then comes Kevin Magnussen (1:20.484), Nico Hulkenberg (1:20.646), Antonio Giovinazzi (1:21.717) and Alexander Albon (1:22.792).

  3. Atmosphere is good at Ferrari - Vettel

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

    Ferrari’s seamless preparations for this season have come a little unstuck in the last couple of days. The car still looks very quick, but after Charles Leclerc managed only 29 laps on Tuesday because of a problem with the cooling system, the team lost half a day on Wednesday when Sebastian Vettel crashed with what they described as “a mechanical problem”.

    The accident hit Leclerc more badly - he lost his entire afternoon’s running. And as a result Ferrari have switched their plans. From splitting each day 50-50, they have no decided to give each driver a full day on the final two days of the test. So Leclerc drives on Thursday and Vettel on the final day. Leclerc, particularly, will hope the third day of this test runs more smoothly than the first two. But as Vettel put it: “The feeling is positive, the atmosphere is good and we have something to build on.”

    Sebastian VettelGetty Images

  4. Weather's looking nice

    Chris Medland
    F1 journalist in Barcelona

    A copy and paste morning in terms of the weather as bright sunshine greets the start of the penultimate day of testing. If there are items left on the to do list, this is when it all starts to get a bit more urgent as for some drivers it is the final day they will drive the car before Melbourne.

    That’s especially true of the rookies who are preparing for their first Grand Prix start. They’ll want to tick off a qualifying run, a race simulation and some live pit-stop practice before heading to Australia.

    Of those yet to start a race, it’s the last day for Lando Norris, George Russell and Alexander Albon.

    BarcelonaChris Medland

  5. What's happening at Renault today?

    They tell us: "Nico is at the wheel this morning with a planned programme consisting of shorter based runs on Pirelli’s C4 and C5 tyres. Early running will be about warming up."

    So, now you know.

  6. Take a break, Carlos

    A well-earned day off today for Carlos Sainz after topping the times on Wednesday and also doing the joint-highest amount of laps. After the session, he tweeted...

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  7. 'A lot of work to do'

    It's going to be an exhausting day for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. He basically missed his afternoon session yesterday through no fault of his own.

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  8. Wednesday's highlights

    Want to see some highlights from yesterday? Of course you do.

    Here, from the official Formula 1 Twitter account, is the best of what happened on Wednesday.

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  9. Names to look out for

    Who's driving today then, I hear you ask.

    Sebastian Vettel appears to have the day off after his smash yesterday, with Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari all day. He only managed an installation lap right at the end of yesterday afternoon so will be looking for some solid running.

    Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Pierre Gasly (Red Bull), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Lando Norris (McLaren), Lance Stroll (Racing Point), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Alex Albon (Toro Rosso) and George Russell (Williams) are also all in action this morning.

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  10. Wednesday's times

    These were the times from Wednesday, with Carlos Sainz setting the best lap, although he also had a problem straight after.

    But McLaren fixed it and Sainz and Williams' Robert Kubica both managed 130 laps during a draining day. Those two were among seven drivers to be in their cars for more than 100 laps.

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  11. Wednesday's recap

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

    Sebastian Vettel crashed his Ferrari on the second day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona, severely curtailing the team's running.

    Vettel lost control after what the team described as "a mechanical problem" at the 150mph Turn Three and hit the barriers, causing extensive damage.

    "From the feeling in the car it was an issue with the front-left corner," the German said.

    McLaren's Carlos Sainz set the fastest time, from Racing Point's Sergio Perez. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were eighth and ninth fastest respectively.

    Vettel, who was third fastest, said the team were having difficulty establishing what had caused the incident.

    "It would be a lot easier if there was a lot of run-off and the car didn't hit anything right after because now it is fairly damaged because of the hit. So we have to be careful working out what happened," he said.

    Sebastian VettelReuters

  12. Thanks for joining us

    We go again.

    Hi there and welcome along to BBC Sport's live text commentary for the seventh day of Formula 1 testing.

    I'm Michael Emons and will be talking you through the action. If it matches yesterday morning then it will be quite dramatic. Let's go.

  13. Mixed fortunes

    Wednesday was a day to forget for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel crashed in the morning session, meaning they did not manage to set a lap time in the afternoon.

    Sebastian VettelGetty Images

    McLaren have had their problems over the past two days, but the stats don't lie - a McLaren has been the fastest on both days of testing this week. Three in a row today?

    Carlos SainzGetty Images