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LIVE COMMENTARY: BARCELONA THIRD PRE-SEASON TEST - TEST DAY THREE
   GO TO LIVE INDEX ALL TIMES GMT  
As it happened: Test day three
By Geoff Creighton, Matt Beer and Steven English
The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.
07:56 Good morning and welcome to day three of AUTOSPORT Live's coverage of the third Formula 1 winter test at Barcelona.

07:58 The drivers are set to start the morning on intermediate tyres.

07:59 There has been rain overnight, more looks likely and the track is currently damp.

07:59 Temperatures are currently 8.3 degrees air, 10 on the track, and humidity is 89 per cent.

07:59 More rain is starting to fall now as well.

08:00 Out comes the green and the day gets underway.

08:02 Here is the driver line-up for today - Red Bull: Mark Webber; McLaren: Lewis Hamilton; Ferrari: Felipe Massa; Mercedes: Nico Rosberg; Renault: Vitaly Petrov; Williams: Pastor Maldonado; Force India: Adrian Sutil; Sauber: Sergio Perez; Toro Rosso: Daniel Ricciardo in the morning, Sebastien Buemi in the afternoon; Lotus: Jarno Trulli; Hispania: Narain Karthikeyan in the morning, Giorgio Mondini in the afternoon; Virgin: Timo Glock.

08:02 The 'teams formerly known as new teams' are already out in force: Virgin, Hispania and Lotus running nose to tail on the track on their installation laps.

08:03 Perez is also out early in the Sauber.

08:03 Petrov goes over the line in the Renault to do a two-lap installation, with plenty of spray coming up behind the car.

08:04 Lotus tyre choice from @MikeGascoyne: "Light rain and a fully wet track here in Barcelona this morning, installation lap on full wets with Jarno"

08:04 Virgin is also definitely running full wets.

08:05 Webber comes out in the Red Bull.

08:05 Petrov completes his two-lap installation and brings the Renault in.

08:06 Later today we'll have Red Bull and Toro Rosso reserve Daniel Ricciardo with us, fresh from a morning of driving the STR. Email live@autosport.com with your questions for the rising Australian star.

08:06 Expect Mercedes on track imminently, @OfficialMGP: "The car is firing out and Nico will head out for his installation lap."

08:07 Hamilton comes out for McLaren.

08:07 As Webber completes his installation lap, Red Bull carries out a practice pitstop.

08:08 The world champion team did a huge number of these yesterday as well - starting in the pitlane before the session began, and then doing several more with full-speed arrivals from Sebastian Vettel later in the morning.

08:08 Ferrari is now on the track too, with Massa going for a two-lap installation.

08:09 Rosberg and Hamilton complete their installations.

08:10 All 12 teams have now carried out a one or two-lap installation run and pitted again.

08:10 Massa and Petrov did two laps, one each for everyone else.

08:11 Looks like most chose to use full wets for those installation laps.

08:12 If this was a race, they would most likely be on intermediates so they could stay out longer, as it looks like the track will move away from full-wet conditions quite quickly.

08:13 Looks like the rain has eased off, and here's more weather news from AUTOSPORT's @radarguruf1: "Wet running for now but the shower risk will reduce this morning, will brighten up later with some sun. Max 12c"

08:14 Although the track is currently empty, teams will want to get some running on the wet circuit because (unlike winter 2010) the majority of testing so far has been in the dry and they have brand new Pirelli wets and intermediates to get to grips with.

08:15 One thing they need to get the hang of is the crossover phase - learning how dry a track the Pirelli wets/intermediates can run on and when will be the ideal moment to take slicks, and vice versa.

08:15 Trulli comes back out as @MikeGascoyne explains the plan: "Jarno going out for a long run on full wets, and then looking to try intermediates"

08:17 Glock comes out too.

08:17 Plenty of spray from the Lotus as Trulli rounds the final corner and blasts down the pits straight.

08:18 In contrast to the last two days, the crowd is extremely sparse so far today.

08:19 It's probably not a coincidence that Fernando Alonso was in the Ferrari for the last two days and today it's Massa's turn...

08:19 Trulli sets the morning's first time - a 1m46.736s on full wets - as Hamilton comes out.

08:20 Sutil is heading out too.

08:20 Glock starts off with a 1m47.254s.

08:21 Trulli has improved to 1m46.114s, Glock does a 47.7 on his second lap.

08:22 If you've got any questions for either our testing team or this afternoon's special guest Daniel Ricciardo, remember to email live@autosport.com and we'll answer as many as we can.

08:22 Trulli does a 46.3, Webber sets off from the pits.

08:23 Hamilton didn't go for a time on that run, he returns to the McLaren garage.

08:23 Ricciardo leaves the pits in the Toro Rosso.

08:23 Sutil sets his first time of the day, a 1m49.593s.

08:25 Webber goes fastest with a 1m45.251s.

08:26 Sutil improves very slightly with a 1m49.374s. Trulli backed off to a 1m56s that time, while Glock is still lapping in 1m47s.

08:26 Trulli improves to 1m45.934s, staying second.

08:27 A big jump from Webber on his next lap, as he takes the day's benchmark to a 1m43.106s, 2.8s quicker than Trulli.

08:28 Weather news from AUTOSPORT.com's @gcreighton: "Rain has eased now and looking a bit brighter overhead. Possibly one more shower in the cloud moving in from the direction of Barcelona."

08:29 Ricciardo starts off with a 1m50.152s in the Toro Rosso.

08:29 Rosberg brings the Mercedes onto the circuit.

08:29 Quicker again from Webber, who does 1m42.728s.

08:30 Karthikeyan comes out in the Hispania - the last 2010 car still being used.

08:30 An unusual and not necessarily healthy noise coming from the HRT as it passed us.

08:30 Ricciardo improves to 1m47.106s and third place.

08:31 Trulli is also still on the circuit and lapping in 1m46s.

08:31 Ricciardo goes up to second with a 1m45.233s, 2.5s behind Webber.

08:32 Rosberg sets Mercedes' first time of the day: a 1m48.694s.

08:33 Webber ends that run and pits.

08:33 Ricciardo improves to 1m44.861s, though that's still 2.1s behind Webber.

08:34 Karthikeyan returns to the pits without going for a lap, as Perez and Hamilton rejoin.

08:34 Rosberg improves to 1m47.068s and fourth place.

08:34 Maldonado leaves the Williams pit.

08:36 Ricciardo and Trulli end their runs and pit. The Lotus has done the most mileage so far today with 11 laps.

08:36 Perez starts off with a 1m49.874s.

08:37 Hamilton goes to third with a 1m45.417s on his first flying lap.

08:38 McLaren pitboard says three more laps for Hamilton.

08:38 He goes second with a 1m43.683s on his next pass.

08:39 Maldonado starts off with a 1m46.032s and fifth place.

08:39 Improvement from Perez too, as he does a 1m48.061s and moves ahead of Sutil, who is just coming out.

08:40 Despite the wet track, we've now seen nine of the 12 teams do flying laps already, just Hispania, Renault and Ferrari yet to go for a proper run.

08:40 Perez takes another 0.2s off his best time, and Maldonado goes fourth with a 1m45.144s.

08:41 That demotes Trulli to fifth, and the Lotus is now rejoining. The team had planned to do a long run on wets then switch to intermediates when possible.

08:42 Maldonado jumps up to second place with a 1m43.307s, now with half a second of Webber.

08:42 Ricciardo is setting off for another run in the Toro Rosso.

08:46 The session has been stopped.

08:47 Looks like Maldonado's Williams has caused the stoppage.

08:47 The car is in the gravel at Turn 5.

08:48 Looks like he's gone straight on rather than spinning, that's certainly the impression the tyre marks in the gravel give.

08:48 The Williams has come to a stop just before the wall.

08:48 Maldonado is trudging away from the car as the recovery truck arrives to collect it.

08:49 Williams personnel arrive and quickly cover the car.

Pastor Maldonado08:51 The cover is on the car and the truck is picking it up.

08:51 There's some debris left in the gravel, but it looks like a cover of some sort rather than part of the car.

08:53 The truck is reversing out of the gravel ready to bring the Williams back to the pits.

08:53 It's still fairly wet all around the circuit.

08:53 There has been no more rain since the shower just as the session began, and the sky is looking brighter, but low temperatures and high humidity will mean the surface will take a while to dry.

08:55 Looks like intermediate tyres will come into fashion when the session resumes, at least at Lotus - @MikeGascoyne: "ok for inters so waiting for green light to go back out"

08:56 The truck arrives outside the Williams garage, so the green flag is now out.

08:57 Trulli is first out of the pits with intermediates on his Lotus.

08:58 Sutil, Massa and Ricciardo join the circuit as things get back underway following Maldonado's off.

09:00 Looking at some more CCTV footage, it seems where Maldonado went off was pretty late in Turn 5, suggesting he lost the Williams mid-corner rather than on the way in.

09:02 Very little spray from the cars, on the main straight at least, so it is certainly time for the teams to get some laps on intermediates.

09:03 Massa moves up to third quickest in the early times with a lap of 1m43.525s.

09:05 There's a 3kmh wind blowing across the main straight, which is a tail wind on the approach to Campsa and a head wind into the final corner.

09:06 Massa now takes second fastest away from Maldonado with a 1m42.797s lap. Trulli is also up the order to sixth after clocking 1m45.805s.

09:07 Still plenty water off-line along the main straight, as Perez found out when he pulled over towards the pitwall on his latest lap.

Massa09:08 Massa's improvements continue and he's now on top of the order after clocking a 1m42.425s.

09:10 Rosberg sets his best lap of the day so far with a 1m47.068s in eighth fastest overall.

09:13 Another slight improvement for Massa, lowering the benchmark to a 1m42.245s.

09:14 Hamilton is back in the McLaren garage after a run of five flying laps.

09:15 Ricciardo is also back in the pits after a six-lap outing in the Toro Rosso.

09:15 Massa shaves a bit more off the leading time, now a 1m42.080s.

09:15 Rosberg is also up the order to fifth quickest after clocking 1m44.319s.

09:17 Some work in progress on Webber's Red Bull - it's up on stands in the garage with the engine cover off.

09:18 Glock pits the Virgin, while the improving track keeps yielding faster time for Massa, who is now on a 1m41.862s.

09:20 The Ferrari driver is in the pits now but blasts past his mechanics, heading down to make a practice start on the way out of the pitlane.

09:20 Rosberg is closing on Sutil for track position as the pair of Germans circulate.

09:22 Massa is back in the pits again and now gets pushed back into the Ferrari garage.

09:23 Renault has a plan, via @officalLRGP: "Today's plan is for a race distance, broken down into several stints. We will also do set-up work and tyre data collection in the afternoon."

09:25 The R31 has struggled for milage so far with a series of reliability issues, but did run well yesterday - 41 laps for Heidfeld and 61 for Petrov.

09:26 Rosberg pits his Mercedes, leaving only Ricciardo on track at the moment.

09:28 The Australian will be joining us to answer your questions a little later today - email live@autosport.com and we'll put the best to Toro Rosso's test driver.

09:28 On track, Ricciardo has just clocked a 1m43.698s, going fifth fastest.

Ricciardo09:31 He follows that up with a much quicker 1m41.749s on the improving circuit to go second fastest.

09:31 Glock and Sutil are now back out.

09:35 Ricciardo is back in the pits and is pushed into the Toro Rosso garage.

09:36 Perez clocks his best of the day so far in the Sauber - a 1m44.740s for seventh fastest.

Circuit de Catalunya09:37 Let's answer our first question of the morning from the live@autosport.com inbox ...

Thanks for the live coverage, it's great. I have a question about the speed of this year's cars: I don't remember them lapping as slowly as 1m30s at Barcelona. Also, last year's fastest testing time was something like 1.19.9 from Hamilton, which we are still more than three seconds removed this year.

Keep up the good work and kind regards from Adriaan ter Mors, in Delft, the Netherlands (on the sofa - not going for the exotic-location prize)

AUTOSPORT.com features editor @TeamAnglais says:

The times so far have been between one and two seconds slower than those set during pre-season testing last year. We can attribute the slower times partly to the loss of downforce and partly to the change from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres.

At Valencia the best lap dropped from a 1m11.470s in 2010 to a 1m13.144s two weeks ago. There were two tests at Jerez last year, producing 1m19.583s and 1m18.871s bests. Last week the quickest was 1m19.832s.

The fastest time of the Barcelona test last year was 1m20.472s, compared to Vettel's 1m23.315s yesterday. We'd expect the quickest time to come on the last day of the test, once the circuit is more rubbered in.

This year's tyres don't seem to be leaving as much rubber on the circuit as the previous ones, so the times don't improve as much with more days of running - something that will affect grands prix weekends too.

Also, Barcelona is regarded as the most strenuous test of aerodynamic performance of all the testing venues, so the loss of downforce this year will have a bigger effect on laptimes here than anywhere else.

09:37 Perez continued round and did another 1m44.7s on his next lap.

09:38 Looks like Webber's about to bring the Red Bull out again.

09:38 After topping the times for a while earlier, the Australian has been back in the garage for about an hour.

09:38 Perez makes another slight improvement, doing a 1m44.682s but staying seventh.

09:40 Webber is on the circuit again, while Perez has finished that run and pitted.

09:40 Sutil is the only other man still out.

09:43 Sutil returns to the pits, so Webber has the track to himself. He's started this run with a 1m43.3s.

09:43 That's 0.6s off his best from earlier, and 2s slower than Massa's current session-topping time.

09:44 Red Bull pitboard says three more laps for Webber.

09:44 Hamilton brings the McLaren out.

09:45 This is going to be a 10-lap run for Hamilton, who is currently fifth.

09:46 Unlike the other teams, looks like Red Bull is counting up on its pitboard not down, so that 'L3' meant three completed, not three to go.

09:46 Glock is coming back out in the Virgin.

09:49 Turns out Hamilton isn't doing the laps we thought either, he comes straight back into the pits and the McLaren garage.

09:49 Massa is now back out.

09:50 Webber is still a little way off his earlier pace, lapping in low 1m44s.

09:51 Weather latest from AUTOSPORT.com's @gcreighton: "Weather watch: getting brighter, no sign of further rain for the moment. Little change in track temp or humidity - will take a while to dry."

09:51 Glock's current times are similar to his earlier high-1m45s best.

Lewis Hamilton09:51 After only a brief visit to the McLaren garage, Hamilton is coming back out.

09:54 Massa did one slow lap initially, then a 42.2.

09:55 Best times are about 1-2s slower than where we were at this point on Friday morning, which was the only other wet running of testing so far.

09:55 On Friday it was nearly lunchtime before competitive lap-times were being set on slicks.

09:55 An improvement from Webber, who does a 1m42.632s but stays third.

09:56 Hamilton is straight back into the pits.

09:56 It looks like McLaren is having problems, as the pitboard read nine laps, suggesting he was going to resume the run he aborted a few minutes ago, but once again he immediately pitted.

09:57 It's not been a straightforward build-up for McLaren at all so far. Here is what Jenson Button had to say on the subject yesterday:

Button: Lack of laps hindering McLaren

09:57 Perez brings the Sauber back out. It's him, Massa, Webber and Sutil now on the circuit.

09:59 Massa has four laps to go on this run.

09:59 Sutil improves to 1m44.998s.

10:00 Here's the latest update on the Bahrain GP situation:

Ecclestone to let Bahrain judge safety

10:00 The session has been stopped.

10:01 Another red flag at Catalunya. Quite a few cars on track at the time, just looking for the culprit...

10:01 It's the Sauber of Perez, which the timing system says has stopped at Turn 4.

10:01 The computer says there are no fluids spilt form the car.

10:02 Perez is in the gravel, close to the wall, so looks like he went off rather than parking.

10:02 A recovery truck is heading around the circuit in the 'wrong' direction to collect the Sauber.

10:03 There are no obvious marks in the gravel so can't see if he spun, but the car has gone into the run-off and stopped near the wall. Doesn't look like he made contact with the barrier.

10:03 Sauber personnel are on the scene, Perez is making his exit.

10:06 There are tyre tracks behind the Sauber along the gravel, so it looks like whatever happened took place earlier in the corner and he was driving along the back of the gravel before stopping - he may have got stuck rather than parking voluntarily.

10:06 The recovery truck is now at the scene.

10:06 The weather is still improving - there are now signs of the sun trying to break through the clouds.

10:09 Looks like the clear-up has finished at Turn 4.

10:10 With a better look at the tracks in the gravel trap now we can see that the Sauber didn't spin, it just went straight on at the corner.

10:10 And then seems to have got stuck trying to get out again.

10:11 Back to green at Catalunya.

10:11 Ricciardo is first out in the Toro Rosso.

10:11 Remember he'll be joining us later to answer your questions, so email live@autosport.com with whatever you want to ask him.

10:12 Hamilton is also coming out again - will things go more smoothly for McLaren now?

10:14 McLaren pitboard says 'L5' as Hamilton comes past.

10:14 Rosberg is out for Mercedes too.

10:15 Petrov sets off in the Renault, one of only two cars (along with Hispania) yet to do a flying lap today.

10:16 More weather news from AUTOSPORT's @gcreighton: "There's the sunshine for the first time today, but I don't think we'll get much dry running until after lunch - still damp in many corners."

10:17 Hamilton again comes back into the pits.

10:17 Petrov sets a 1m55.984s on his first lap of the morning.

10:18 A man with a fire extinguisher is peering into the McLaren's rear end as it's pushed into the garage.

10:19 The two Australian Red Bull men are on track together, Webber running just ahead of Ricciardo.

10:20 Sutil and Petrov improve to 1m44.468s and 1m50.391s respectively as Massa comes out.

10:21 Ferrari pitboard suggests 10 laps for Massa this time.

10:22 Australian formation has ended as Ricciardo pits.

10:23 Webber remains out, lapping in low-1m43s at present. Massa has started his mid with a mid-1m42s.

Nico Rosberg10:23 Rosberg is doing mid-1m46s as is Glock.

10:24 Information from Sauber about Perez's incident a few minutes ago is that he made a mistake and locked the rear brakes. There was no impact and no visible damage on the car, so it should be back out soon once the team has finished checking it.

10:26 Webber improves on his previous best by exactly a tenth of a second, doing a 1m42.532s.

10:27 Another improvement by Webber takes him to 1m42.231s, though he stays third.

10:28 Hamilton is coming out again.

10:28 He's been trying to complete a run for a while, with the pitboard suggesting five or 10 laps are planned, but keeps aborting and returning to the garage.

10:29 McLaren pitboard says 'L5' this time.

10:31 Hamilton successfully completes a lap and stays out.

10:32 Weather forecast for the rest of the day from @radarguruf1: "There's no rain to the west of the track on the radar. Should be good to go for continual drying and a bright afternoon."

10:32 Having recently improved his time to 1m44.468s, Sutil is staying out and lapping in mid-1m45s. He's currently seventh.

10:33 Massa is circulating in high 1m41s, Webber in mid-1m42s, Rosberg still in mid-1m46s and Hamilton's first lap was a 46.0.

10:33 Another lap done for Hamilton, seems like whatever was curtailing his activity earlier has been fixed.

10:34 Petrov is back out in the Renault.

10:34 Two laps to go for Hamilton, looks like he'll complete his planned run this time.

10:35 The session has been stopped.

10:35 Maybe not, as a red flag interrupts McLaren's run.

10:36 Hamilton, Sutil and Webber all safely back, still looking to see who caused the problem.

10:36 It's the Ferrari of current pacesetter Felipe Massa.

10:37 Looks like he spun on the approach to Turn 5. Computer says no oil down.

10:38 Looks like he might have lost it on the exit of Turn 4, spun back across the road and the thin strip of grass, then come to a halt just into the gravel trap, nowhere near the wall.

10:39 Ferrari team members are inevitably soon on the scene and covering the car over.

10:39 The recovery truck is there and Massa has already set off back to the pits by the look of it.

10:40 Massa arrives back at the Ferrari pit in a red SEAT and gets a cheer from the crowd in the grandstand.

10:43 The truck is now on the way back to the pits with the Ferrari on it, and the Ferrari crew is ready and waiting.

10:45 The green comes out as the truck returns to the pits.

10:46 Trulli is first out in the Lotus.

10:49 Glock and Perez's checked Sauber are next to set off.

10:50 Karthikeyan's Hispania is also on the move. We haven't seen this car since it abandoned its first post-installation run with some unhealthy noises coming from it.

10:50 Webber is coming out too.

10:50 Trulli immediately improves to a 1m43.860s and seventh place.

10:52 With Perez now back out after his recent error, here's a timely question to live@autosport.com from Carl Lawrence: "Assuming no damage to the car, how long does it take a team to check a car over, clean it up and send it back out after an off?"

Sergio Perez skated off the road in the Sauber at spot on 11am and the team got the car back to the garage at about 11:10. Sauber reported no major problems, said the team would just check the car over and clean it out, and he rejoined just a moment ago - so 30-35 minutes.

10:52 Perez goes quicker now he's back out, jumping to fourth on a 1m42.434s.

10:53 A major wobble for Glock out of the final corner.

10:53 Still no time for Karthikeyan and he brings the Hispania back in.

10:55 The track seems to be quicker as Perez goes to second on a 1m41.556s and Webber improves to a 1m41.579s.

10:56 Perez improves to 1m41.455s, staying second but now just 0.08s off Massa's time.

10:58 Karthikeyan leaves the pits again. He's the last man who has not yet set a time today, and he's scheduled to hand the Hispania over to Giorgio Mondini after lunch.

10:58 Just coming up to the three-hour mark now, and it's still Massa fastest ahead of Perez, Webber, Ricciardo and Maldonado, though times should start coming down quickly if the track continues to improve.

10:59 Everyone has doing a flying lap bar Karthikeyan, although Petrov has not managed any properly quick times yet.

10:59 Now Perez jumps to the top with a 1m41.370s, 0.005s quicker than Massa's time.

Narain Karthikeyan10:59 Karthikeyan sets his first time of the day, a 1m45.017s.

11:01 The air temperature has crept up to 11.9 degrees, with 18.9 on track, though humidity remains 80 per cent.

11:02 The track is still a long way from being properly dry, though.

11:02 Perez is trying to cool his tyres by running down by the pitwall, and is kicking up a lot of spray over there.

11:04 Rosberg improves to 1m43.268s.

11:06 Massa's Ferrari has been swiftly cleaned and is out again after his spin.

11:07 Ten laps for Massa in this stint is the plan.

11:07 Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Glock, Karthikeyan and Petrov are the men circulating at the moment on a still pretty damp surface.

11:08 Webber tops the morning mileage list with 42 laps, while Karthikeyan has only done 10, and just 11 for Petrov and Maldonado.

11:09 Our technical correspondent Gary Anderson has been going through some of your questions to live@autosport.com.

11:09 Chris Szymanski in Kuala Lumpur asks: A lot has been made of the location of the McLaren exhausts, but what performance advantage could they be gaining from keeping them hidden, and in the various places that have been suggested? Many thanks, keep up the good work.

AUTOSPORT technical consultant Gary Anderson says:

In placing the exhaust pipes, what you are trying to do is use the exhaust gases to increase the veocity of air flow around the area where the exhaust exits. Different teams are trying to place them in what they think is the best position to use them to help increase downforce.

McLaren are back-to-back testing different solutions and have resolved back to a standard exhaust system, that exits at the back of the sidepods, today.

To back-to-back different solutions at every test is a strange route for a team that would have the tools to simulate the various systems. The aggravation caused by having a complex exhaust system is not really worth it if you can't measure it in real laptime.

11:10 A flurry of improvements as cars pass the pits now, with Webber going back to the top on a 1m41.258s, and Massa taking second with a 1m41.320s

11:10 Petrov and Glock improve their times too in ninth and 11th places

11:10 The session has been stopped.

11:10 Another red flag, and it's the same cause as last time: Massa has spun.

11:11 The Ferrari is stopped sideways on the grass and edge of the track on the outside of Turn 7.

11:12 Massa didn't hit anything in that incident either. The team and the recovery truck are on the scene.

11:14 The SEAT used for ferrying drivers back to the pits has departed the Turn 7/8 flick so presumably has Massa on board.

11:14 Ferrari people look like they're applying two covers to the stranded car. Very thorough.

11:14 Massa arrives back in the pits and receives another cheer from the stands.

11:15 Guy Dormehl in South Africa asks: Do you think it would be a good idea to get rid of the high noses in the new regulations? They are complex, ugly, dangerous (imagine getting speared in the side) and create downforce the regulations keep trying to get rid of.

AUTOSPORT technical consultant Gary Anderson says:

I do think the height of the noses has got a bit silly. I don't think I'd want it to go back to being right on the ground again, but I definitely would put a maximum height on the centre line of the nose at the front, and a maximum height of the area where the nose intersects the chassis at the front wheel centre line.

I think that would be better and would reduce the risk of T-boning someone in the middle of the chassis. Structurally, it would be better on an impact, and I think aesthetically it would be more pleasing to the eye. It would reduce downforce, not by a significant amount, but by a couple of per cent.

11:16 Keep your questions coming to live@autosport.com, and remember Daniel Ricciardo is joining us to answer some of them later.

11:17 Word from McLaren is that Hamilton has an issue that will keep him in the pits until after lunch now.

11:17 He had to continually abandon planned runs and return to the garage earlier, although he looked set to complete a full stint before the previous Massa spin interrupted it.

11:18 Reliability must be a worry for McLaren with Button having been parked for most of yesterday morning while a hydraulic problem was fixed.

11:19 The Ferrari returns to the pits and the session goes green again.

11:20 No one comes out immediately, though.

11:20 Now Karthikeyan brings the Hispania out.

Adrian Sutil11:20 Sutil comes out too for Force India.

11:22 Lotus' @MikeGascoyne explains the current track conditions: "Too wet for dry tyres and getting too dry for any meaningful work on the the inters. hopefully will dry up for the afternoon"

11:23 Petrov joins the track as well.

11:24 If other teams share Gascoyne's opinion about the conditions then we might be in for a quiet spell before the lunchbreak now.

11:25 We've had a few requests to live@autosport.com for an update on the number of laps completed, so here's the current tally:

Webber - 45, Massa - 35, Perez - 32, Ricciardo - 28, Maldonado - 11, Rosberg - 31, Hamilton - 30, Trulli - 24, Petrov - 14, Sutil - 40, Glock - 40, Karthikeyan - 14

11:25 That's in order of the current leaderboard.

11:25 Sutil had been lapping in 1m45s, but now he picks up pace and goes fastest on a 1m40.126s.

11:25 Karthikeyan jumps to sixth with a 1m42.830s.

11:26 That's a clear sign that track conditions are getting faster.

11:26 Petrov, the other man out, is in mid-1m44s.

11:26 Sutil pits after that time-topping lap.

11:28 We're always keen to find out where people are following AUTOSPORT Live from, and have had readers emailing in from Alpine mountain tops, boats, boat shops, and a vintage tram in recent days.

So if you're following our coverage from an exotic location, let us know via live@autosport.com.

11:28 Petrov has gone up to seventh with a 1m42.868s.

11:28 Webber, who was recently deposed by Sutil at the head of the order, rejoins the track.

11:30 Massa's demonstrating the Ferrari's resistance to gravel, @InsideFerrari: "Two runs aborted due to an off-track. Luckily the car seems robust enough to run again."

11:32 Some insight into AUTOSPORT Live's inner works from our features editor @TeamAnglais: "I've been trying to force updates on the snazziness of the Barcelona medical helicopter sitting in the sunlight into Live all test long. Now Matt is finally willing to mention it and I can't see the bloody thing from here :("

11:33 Despite suggestions that McLaren would be off-track until after lunch, Hamilton is leaving the pits now.

11:34 Also out now are Webber, Petrov, Karthikeyan and Glock. Webber has just been through the pits, while the Renault and Hispania are both doing mid-1m43s.

11:34 Current pacesetter Sutil rejoins as well.

11:36 Karthikeyan trims his time to a 1m42.667s, staying seventh.

11:37 Hamilton goes straight to the top by a massive margin, doing a 1m35.504s, 4.6s quicker than Sutil, with Glock improving to third at the same moment.

11:38 The McLaren comes straight back in after that rapid lap.

11:38 A slight improvement by Karthikeyan, who stays seventh on a 1m41.408s.

Lewis Hamilton11:39 From our angle up here we can't get a good view of the tread pattern on the McLaren, and the tyre markings won't be applied until Bahrain - or wherever we are next month. But that seems like an intermediate time from Hamilton, on the borderline of changing to slicks.

11:41 Red Bull is doing pitstop practice again, taking off inters and putting some more on.

11:42 Quicker times coming thick and fast as Ricciardo goes to second on a 1m38.971s and Glock to third with 1m39.931s.

11:42 Hamilton still has a 3.4s cushion over the rest, though.

11:42 But not for long, as Massa's back-on-track Ferrari goes second with a 1m36.547s, 1s behind the McLaren.

11:43 Petrov is up to sixth with a 1m41.078s.

11:44 Ricciardo goes to second, 0.219s behind Hamilton with a 1m35.723s.

11:45 Now Ricciardo goes fastest with a 1m33.640s, 1.8s ahead of Hamilton.

11:47 Quicker again from Ricciardo on the next lap, he does a 1m32.465s.

11:47 Now Massa takes second with 1m35.212s, 2.7s behind Ricciardo.

11:48 From what we can make out from our vantage point, everyone on track is still using intermediates. It still seems too wet to risk slicks.

11:49 Ricciardo is flying, now on a 1m31.133s. We're certain he's on intermediates.

Daniel Ricciardo11:50 Ricciardo goes 5.4s clear of the rest with a 1m29.775s.

11:50 He's handing the car over to Sebastien Buemi this afternoon, so seems to be showing what he can do in tricky conditions in his final 10 minutes of running for the day.

11:50 And later on he'll be up with AUTOSPORT Live to answer your questions, so keep them coming to live@autosport.com.

11:51 Also improving, but less dramatically, are Petrov and Perez, who go to fourth and fifth on 1m36.748s and 1m37.465s respectively.

11:51 Webber leaves the pits on slicks.

11:51 Ricciardo gets down to 1m29.102s.

11:52 Perez, Petrov and Karthikeyan go to second, third and fourth on 1m32.1s, 1m33.5s and 1m33.5s.

11:52 Glock is running off-line at Turn1 trying to find wetter parts of the track to cool his intermediates.

11:52 Hamilton does a 1m29.116s, that puts him second, 0.014s behind Ricciardo.

11:53 The Red Bull crew are packing away their wheelguns so it looks like Webber is going to be on these slicks for a while.

11:53 Karthikeyan does a 1m31.143s to take Hispania to third.

11:54 Obviously fuel loads are a factor in testing even in these conditions, but it's still encouraging to see the Indian getting among the other teams in the damp.

11:54 Ricciardo sets a new benchmark of 1m28.811s as Karthikeyan shaves another tenth off his time.

11:55 @WilliamsF1Team explains Maldonado's current absence: "The team is looking into a suspected alternator issue with Pastor's car"

11:55 Ricciardo goes half a second quicker with a 1m28.329s.

11:56 Sutil takes third with a 1m29.904s.

11:56 Webber's first proper lap on slicks is a 1m32.538s.

11:57 Everybody is getting quicker and quicker with every lap now, but Ricciardo remains on top.

11:58 Massa stays with inters for his next run, while Perez will be rejoining on slicks.

11:58 Ricciardo is now in the pits.

11:59 Sutil improves to 1m29.229s but stays third.

11:59 Looks like Hamilton is on slicks too.

11:59 The McLaren does a 1m28.053s to knock Ricciardo off the top spot.

12:00 Webber improves to 1m30.937s and seventh on his slicks.

12:00 The chequered flag is out as the lunchbreak begins.

12:01 Unless there are any last-gasp improvements on the final laps, Hamilton will end the morning fastest ahead of Ricciardo, Sutil, Petrov, Perez and Karthikeyan.

12:01 Looking at conditions now, we'd expect everyone to be on slicks and the track to ready for dry times when running resumes at 2pm local time.

12:02 The last few cars are heading in now.

12:02 Webber takes sixth from Karthikeyan on his last lap.

12:04 Everyone apart from Glock is now back in the pits.

12:05 The Virgin returns, so that's officially lunchtime.

12:05 Australian V8 Supercar racer Michael Patrizi is a former karting and Formula BMW rival of Daniel Ricciardo. He's emailed in to say:

"Hey guys, thanks for the live streaming. Dan is flying and it's great seeing all the others have a crack at him. In this condition in a kart he was a master as well, trust me!"

Ricciardo will be joining us later today to answer your questions. Send them to live@autosport.com

Some locations of Live viewers so far include: on a train to Stockholm, a deck by the Murray River in South Australia, a kitchen in Kuala Lumpur, a terrace in Gibraltar overlooking North African mountains, and someone watching while having a post-operation wound dressed by a nurse - that's commitment.

What unusual location are you joining us from? Anyone else on a boat? We like boats.

Email live@autosport.com and let us know.

12:10 We're now pausing for the lunchbreak while there's no action on the track, but we'll be back in just under an hour with full live coverage of the rest of the test.

13:00 Just about to get things back underway at the Circuit de Catalunya.

13:00 The green flag and the sun come out almost simultaneously.

13:01 A very light shower did skirt past the circuit during lunch, but won't have made much difference to track conditions.

13:01 Trulli in the Lotus is first out, followed by Maldonado in the Williams.

Boats13:02 We are officially popular on boats. Alexander Holsteinson is following from one in the Puerto Bahia Marina in Samana Bay, Dominican Republic

We're also popular on trains: Mario Bassani says he was on that Stockholm train going back to Gothenburg yesterday. Yordan Angeloff is watching from a train on the way to Sofia. And Jonathan Quinn on a train from Taunton to Cardiff, having cycled the other way yesterday.

We also have Erik Cramer up a mountain outside Rio de Janeiro and Andreas Nicolaou up a snowy mountain in Cyprus. Tim in the snow in Kazan, Russia. George Grazebrook in a field 30 miles north of Aberdeen. Tom Jakovljevic checking our timing from the middle of a music festival in a tent with 10,000 people. Mikey spent the lunch break shoveling snow from his driveway in Thunder Bay, Ontario. And for the less exotic, Dave Lawrence is in his living room in Walsall, where it's raining.

Thanks for sending in your unique locations during the lunch break. Sorry we couldn't shout about you all.

13:05 On track, Petrov is underway in his Renault.

13:07 There are a couple of driver changes this afternoon, with Sebastien Buemi taking over from test driver Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso and Giorgio Mondini getting an outing for HRT.

13:07 Mondini is on track now and sets his first time at a 1m47.457s.

13:09 Plenty of early improvements, with the track now much drier than before lunch. Petrov, Perez and Trulli all set their best times of the day

13:10 Not much action at the sharp end of the pitlane for the moment, with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari all in the garage.

13:12 Mondini moves up to 11th fastest on a 1m39.674s but the track is much drier than when some of the times at the foot of the order were set.

13:15 Maldonado sets his first proper laptime on slicks to move up to sixth quickest in the Williams - a 1m30.133s.

13:16 Rosberg is also on the move up to ninth quickest, having skipped some of the late slick-tyre runs before lunch.

13:17 Massa heads out in his Ferrari and is joined by Hamilton in the McLaren, who set the current benchmark just before lunch began.

13:18 Maldonado improves to a 1m29.053s best in his Williams.

13:18 Rosberg is up to sixth now, clocking a 1m31.057s.

13:19 Hamilton's pitboard suggests he is planning a five-lap run.

13:21 The track is still drying, but the majority of the remaining dampness is off the racing line.

13:22 Renault's tweeter @OfficialLRGP is happy with the improving weather: "After a cold, miserable morning, it's turned into a rather pleasant afternoon. I've just taken my fleece off and it's warming up nicely."

13:22 Buemi heads out in the Toro Rosso.

13:23 Remember we'll have Daniel Ricciardo, who drove that car this morning, here to answer your questions towards the end of the day.

13:23 There's still time to get the last few questions in - email us via live@autosport.com

13:24 Meanwhile, Hamilton clocks a 1m27.436s on the second lap of his run to further extend his advantage at the top of the times.

13:26 Buemi makes his debut on the timesheet with a fourth-quickest effort of 1m28.880s.

13:27 The times are likely to improve as the afternoon continues, with slick rubber again being laid on the asphalt surface.

13:28 Buemi is faster again as he flashes by the pits, a 1m27.102s puts him up to second fastest.

13:29 Hamilton brings the McLaren in again after the promised five flying laps.

13:30 Massa is yet to set a competitive time this afternoon, but is now underway in his Ferrari - albeit passing through the pits for a practice start.

13:31 Webber heads out in the Red Bull.

13:32 Just an installation lap for the Australian for now and the RB7 is pushed back into the garage.

13:34 Perez clocks a 1m27.909s in the Sauber and moves up to third quickest.

13:35 Massa is still busy passing through the pits and making practice starts at the far end.

Bahrain13:36 Garry Mah from Malaysia asks: What are your thoughts on Bernie's decision to stay on the fence about Bahrain? Do you think it was the right decision on Bernie's part to let the Bahrain's ruler decide?

AUTOSPORT F1 editor @eddstrawF1 says:

Everyone is pretty much in agreement that the Bahrain Grand Prix should not go ahead. Even if everything calmed down tomorrow, there would rightly be serious ethical questions to be asked as to whether F1 should be willing to go there.

Bernie Ecclestone is in a difficult position. He's an intelligent guy and understands the situation, but also needs to work through the correct process to possibly cancelling the race. Be wary about reading too much into his public utterances - he knows what he is saying and the implications of that. He's a master when it comes to situations like this, and it will just take a little time to reach a resolution as his job is to ensure that the financial repercussions of a possible cancellation are addressed.

Remember, too, that the FIA has a clear say in this. While the teams can't refuse to go because they are contractually obliged to compete in world championship races, I believe that the FIA could also call it off.

13:39 A 1m27.255s for Maldonado puts him up to third quickest in the Williams.

13:41 We've now found an AUTOSPORT Live viewer on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Stefan emailed via satellite to let us know he's following the feed. Great effort.

13:42 On track, Maldonado, Petrov, Sutil, Rosberg and Glock are lapping at the moment.

13:45 Petrov heads back to the Renault garage. He's managed 54 laps so far today, with a couple of long runs.

That's good news for the Russian, who was pretty frustrated by the lack of running he'd managed in the R31 when we chatted with him on Friday.

13:46 The screens part at Red Bull, tyre warmers come off and ... it's another cooling test for the RB7 with the engine running on idle.

13:47 A minute or so later, Webber is off down the pitlane.

13:48 Maldonado pits after an eight-lap run in his Williams.

13:50 Webber is back through the pits and makes a practice start. This is a similar procedure to how Red Bull kicked off Vettel's race simulation yesterday.

Perhaps they are about to try for a full distance again this afternoon.

13:52 We understand some overheating bodywork caused Vettel to head to the garage a couple of times during yesterday's race run attempt.

13:53 Unlike Vettel, Webber seems to prefer the laps to be counted up on his pitboard, so we can't learn anything on the plan from that.

13:55 Webber clocks a 1m29.774s to kick off his run, followed up by a 1m29.875s.

13:56 Massa is out in the Ferrari and it looks like a long run is planned - 17 laps on his pitboard.

13:58 Meanwhile, Petrov puts his Renault on top of the order with a new benchmark for the day of 1m26.342s.

13:59 Sutil improves his best with a 1m28.399s - the Force India now sixth fastest.

14:00 Hamilton is back to the attention of the McLaren crew after a short run of two flying laps.

Petrov14:03 Petrov has further trimmed the leading time to a 1m26.233s.

14:04 The Red Bull crew are starting to get ready. If they make a racing stop for Webber it will pretty much confirm he's on a race simulation.

14:05 The crew sprint out and have fresh rubber ready for the Australian, who did nine flying laps for his first stint.

14:06 The times are pretty comparable with Vettel's first race stint yesterday, starting in the 1m29s and fading to 1m33s under a heavy fuel load

14:06 Meanwhile, Glock springs up to fifth fastest with a lap of 1m27.371s in his Virgin.

14:08 Along with Glock and Webber, Massa is circulating and on an individual long run. Perez is also going round in his Sauber.

14:10 Webber sets his best time of the afternoon to move up to sixth with a 1m27.457s.

14:10 The Red Bull pitboard is continuing to count upwards rather than down, and it's now on 'L14'

14:10 His next lap is a 27.9.

14:11 It looks like Red Bull is aiming for a simulated race distance.

14:12 Webber does a high 1m28s that time round, a second faster than Glock's current pace, while Perez is in mid-1m31s.

14:13 Maldonado brings the Williams out.

Massa14:16 Massa has five laps left of a planned long run. He's completed 15 so far, with pace now into the 1m33s.

14:17 Hamilton is back out in the McLaren and clocks a 1m25.845s on the first lap of his run to top today's order.

14:19 Webber is now seven laps into the second stint of his race run.

14:20 The Red Bull crew don't look like they expect him back any time soon, but do pop out for a look at Massa's pitting Ferrari.

14:20 Hamilton is also back in the pits after a short run to set that session-topping time.

14:22 Sutil is back on track in his Force India. The German has completed 70 laps so far today, mainly in short runs of around five circuits.

14:23 Although Massa didn't do anything resembling a first stint, he does seem to be trying back-to-back long runs. He's out on fresher tyres and planning another 20-lap stint.

14:25 Massa clocks his best of the day at 1m28.639s. He's down in 11th, but has only been running a heavy car since the track dried out.

14:27 After a slow tour, Buemi clocks a 1:26.155s on the fourth lap of his latest run to go second fastest. He pits next time around.

14:28 It's time for Webber to pit at Red Bull - the team sprint into action.

14:28 Tyres are changed and Webber is away again. 13 flying laps in his second race stint - pretty much in line with the three-stop strategy we've seen.

14:32 Sticking with the theme of Red Bull-backed Australians, coming up pretty soon we've got Daniel Ricciardo tackling the questions you've sent in today.

We've got more than enough emails to get through with the Toro Rosso reserve, but do stay tuned for his answers.

14:33 Meanwhile, Petrov flashes by us with a time of 1m25.853s to move up to second fastest. Current pacesetter Hamilton is also out again.

Hamilton14:34 Plenty of short runs from Hamilton this afternoon and that's another. He improves the benchmark to 1m23.914s and then pits the MP4-26.

14:36 Massa continues his second consecutive long run with times hovering around the 1m30s mark.

14:39 Webber is now six laps into the third stint of his race, currently lapping around 1m30s as well.

14:41 Hamilton is off out again, as is Buemi.

14:43 Pretty decent sunshine at the circuit this afternoon, which is welcome news after a rain-affected morning. The track temp is now 23.3c.

14:44 Just a single flyer from Hamilton again. He's given the in arrow on his pitboard as he flashes past with a new benchmark of 1m23.858s.

14:45 Red Bull are keeping a count on Webber's race - now 37 laps in.

14:46 Massa pits after his second long run in a row. The Ferrari crew change the tyres but push the car back into the garage.

14:47 Lapping now are Buemi, Webber, Rosberg and Perez.

14:51 Webber is now 13 laps into his third stint, and has been pretty consistent in the 1m30s bracket on this set of tyres.

14:53 Probably a few more laps before Webber is in again, with 23 more laps needed for a full race distance.

14:53 Meanwhile, Sutil clocks a 1m25.720s to put the Force India second fastest overall.

14:56 We've got Daniel Ricciardo, fresh from the Toro Rosso cockpit, answering your questions now.

Laurence Thorn asks: You've come through Formula Renault 3.5, whereas other members of the grid have gone the GP2 route instead. What do you think are the similarities and differences between the series in terms of how they prepare drivers for F1?

Daniel's reply: Hey Laurence. Well, I've never driven in GP2. I know both categoires are quite elite, they both have carbon brakes, pitstops and longer races, so I think they have a lot of similarities to take the step to F1.

Obviously GP2 shares race weekends with F1, so this can maybe give people the impression that GP2 is more popular, because it's in the F1 eye. Perhaps that's why there are more GP2 guys out there than World Series.

For me, I learned enough in World Series and it has given me the right background to be here in this postion in F1. I imagine GP2 offers the same things, and both categories are enough of a preparation to make this next step.


14:57 Jeff asks: You'll be in FR3.5 as well as third pilot for STR this year. How will you manage this? Do you think your motivation will be down for FR3.5?

Daniel Ricciardo: I'm going to be very busy this year, that's obvious, but I'm looking forward to trying to get the championship in WSR this year - that's the first objective on my list. Then also to get some very valuable seat time in F1 is a big positive to me, so as I see it, it's going to be a really good year for me.

I've got some great opportunities to try to take what I didn't get last year, and to try to step into my aim in F1 for the following season. I'll definitely have the motivation with World Series by Renault again this year, as I really want to take the championship - I don't plan on being the bridesmaid again!


14:58 Webber is now 17 laps into his third stint, with times fading into the 1m32s bracket as the tyres get towards the end of their life.

14:58 David Surgenor asks: What would you say are the main benefits expected from the undercut sidepods and unique floor design featured on this year's Toro Rosso?

Daniel Ricciardo: The idea is to get more downforce. More downforce normally means a quicker laptime on the stopwatch and that's the basic theory behind any developments. I guess time will tell whether it's a good move from the technical department of Toro Rosso, but I think the car looks great and out on track it's been really good to drive.

14:59 Glock, Rosberg and Perez are the only other drivers out there at the moment - although there's Buemi and Hamilton heading out as well.

15:00 Norman Bernard asks: Everyone knows you are part of the Red Bull young driver programme, but if another team offered you a race drive, would you accept it? And do you dream of driving for Ferrari, one day?

Daniel Ricciardo: As a kid I supported Ferrari. My father is Sicilian and loves the Ferrari heritage - and he passed that on to me. I'm sure, as many drivers would say, there has been a stage in life where they have dreamt of driving for Ferrari one day.

Everyone wants to be out there racing, so this is definitely what I want to aim for. But for now I'm very content in the Red Bull family, and they've been a huge benefit in my career. If we keep working together how we have since I've been with them, succesfully, then I think they will offer me a good seat in the not too distant future.


15:01 Webber racing on to lap 47 of his simulation now and the Red Bull crew are limbering up for his final stop.

15:02 The Red Bull crew scurry out into the pitlane and here's Webber in the RB7.

15:03 Tyres changed and he's off for the run to the end of his simulated Spanish grand prix.

15:04 That was a 20 lap third stint for Webber, with times starting at 1m29.941s and dropping off to 1m33.249s.

15:05 Joe Delucia from Western Australia is keeping our culinary theme going: What did you have for lunch?

Daniel Ricciardo: (laughs) Hey Joe! How you going? To answer your question, I had a delicious piece of fillet steak, cooked medium, with a side serving of pasta al pomodoro and some cooked vegetables. Might sound a bit boring, but it's important to get some good carbs and protein in after a session.

15:06 Elsewhere, Massa is back out again and clocks his best time of the day so far - a 1:28.227. He's down in 10th, but the order is a little jumbled after the rain this morning and the differing programmes this afternoon.

15:06 Stuart Flatman from Perth says: G'day! Good luck with testing and hopefully getting a seat for the second half of the year. Awesome to have someone in F1 with your potential coming from this part of the world.

With the new one-second overtaking rule coming in this year, do you think this will force the frontrunners to push harder than normal to keep the gap above one second? Will this help on the harder-to-overtake circuits, as the front car can no longer just cruise with no fear of being passed? All the best Daniel, keep Sebastien and Jaime on their toes mate.

Daniel Ricciardo: I think you'll definitely see more overtaking this year with the new DRS in place, so it will be interesting to see how the leader of a pack controls his gap. As you said, I think they won't be able to rest as easy as last year with a slight advantage. This could force a driver to make a few mistakes and open up another window of opportunity. I think we're in for an exciting season.

15:10 On track, Mondini sets his best of the day with a 1m28.178s in the HRT.

15:11 Nico Teakle from Adelaide says: Hi Dan, love your work! What do you think of the new Pirellis? And which races would you recommend attending this year?

Daniel Ricciardo: Hey Nico. I think the people at Pirelli are doing a good job with developing the tyre for this new season. It's going to be interesting to see which teams get on top of it before the others, because the tyre is the most important part on the car - the only piece in contact with the track.

Out of the races I went to last year, my favourites were Australia, Canada, Singapore and Monaco. You might get a hint that the street circuits are a lot of fun!


15:11 Bogata Borbely from Hungary asks: How did it feel running intermediates and full wets? How different were they compared to Bridgestone's tyres?

Daniel Ricciardo: They felt quite good to me, but I don't have any reference from anything else as it was my first time in an F1 car in these conditions. I only ever drove on Bridgestone tyres in the dry. But speaking to a few of the other guys, they seem to think that they're alright.

15:12 Webber kicked off his final stint with a 1m24.995s, taking second fastest overall and showing the impact of new Pirellis.

15:12 It's also possible Red Bull has switched tyre compoud for the final stint - something that is still part of the race rules this year.

15:13 Hamilton, Massa and Webber are the men lapping at present.

15:14 Amit Mandalia asks: Apart from learning about the intermediate and wet tyres, and set-up, what else can teams really understand about their package during wet testing? And do you see yourself getting a full-time Toro Rosso drive in 2012, or do you expect to make your race debut this year?

Daniel Ricciardo: I think, to a point, wet testing can be useful and you can take some information. But then it's not really like dry testing when you can run around for laps and laps always gathering information. You have a lot more things to test in the dry and you get clearer readings from data.

My aim is to be in a race seat in 2012 - that's what I'm punching for. So this year I'm just going to try and make the most of the experience I'll get with Friday first practice and be as quick as possible. If I can do a good job there, then next year could be a full-time seat.


15:15 Hamilton is on a longer run after a series of one-lap sprints earlier this afternoon. His pitboard suggests another 11 laps are planned.

15:15 Daisuke Kawasaki writes from Japan: I want to ask you about F1's power steering. How light or heavy is it when driving with so much downforce? Could an average man or woman steer it just like driving a passenger car?

Daniel Ricciardo: Hey, that's a really good question. The forces of power steering can be altered on a driver's preference. Even at its lightest, I think it is still heavy for the average person. But if you would compare the average weight of F1 steering input to, say World Series by Renault from my personal experience, then I would say the F1 would be equal to or even lighter.

15:17 We've not seen the Lotus in a while, as @mikegascoyne explains: "Jarno out after fixing yet another water leak, hopefully can get some laps in"

15:18 Trulli sets his fastest time today with a 1m32.175s as he resumes in the Lotus.

15:19 Chris Roberts asks: What car do you currently drive and what is your dream road car? Also, I am creating a banner to bring to the Australian GP. What would you like me to write on it?

Daniel Ricciardo: In Europe, I'm getting around in a Fiat Punto, and in Australia I've got a Toyota Hilux - that's more of an outdoors car for the Australian environment! My dream road car is a white Lamborghini Gallardo with black wheels - that would definitely get chicks!

And for the banner, 'Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!'


15:20 The Red Bull pitboard goes out for Webber. He's now on lap 60 of the race simulation, with 66 being a grand prix distance here.

15:20 Matt Gorringe says: G'day Daniel, good on ya mate. What's the programme for a test driver when you're not expected to race? Is there pressure to be quick from the off, or do you have to impress in other ways, set-up ability, feedback?

Daniel Ricciardo: As a test driver, or any form of race driver in general, if you want to break into the top you have to be quick. I think that's always the priority. But you also have to show good understanding of car characteristics, and I think feedback is very important for engineers.

When I'm in the car, I always try to go as fast as I can. You give your best feedback when you're on the limit, otherwise it's not very accurate. So the job for me as the driver is to go out there, adapt to the conditions and go as fast as I can. Being conservative doesn't sit well with a race car driver.


15:21 Rosberg is back out in his Mercedes and springs up to third quickest on the timesheet with a 1m25.046s.

15:21 Paul Hoad in Australia asks: Is there any tension between you, Seb and Jaime, or do you get along well?

Daniel Ricciardo: In any form of top-level sport you will never be best mates with your competitors. But between the three of us, we talk and help each other out to understand the new car. I think if we all co-operate well, then we all advance foward as a group - then the rest is up to us out on the track.

15:22 Chris Moeller asks: Do you reckon Toro Rosso will gain their competetive edge again this year, your testing times show good potential, don't they?

Daniel Ricciardo: Testing has gone well for us in the pre-season. It's always hard to say how good we will be until the first race because there are too many variables in testing to get too excited, or too negative.

But the vibe around the team is a positive one and I think they've made a good step forward from last season. I really hope this season the boys can move up a chunk of positions on the grid, and with these new rules coming into place a podium might even be on the cards.


15:22 Trulli is also on the move up the order, clocking 1m26.906s to go seventh fastest.

15:23 That's all Daniel has time for, and he's heading back to the Toro Rosso garage to watch the rest of the test day. Thanks for all your questions, sorry we didn't get time to get through more of them.

Tomorrow Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery will be our special guest, so get your questions in via live@autosport.com.

15:24 Another fairly long run for Massa, with 14 flying laps this time. The Ferrari crew change his tyres and the Brazilian is off out again.

15:25 Lots of laps this afternoon so the track is still improving. Petrov has just come back to the Renault pit after moving up to second fastest

15:26 Webber shown L64 on his pitboard, so he's in theory just two laps away from the end of his race distance.

15:29 Maldonado, Sutil, Perez and Massa are also on track currently.

15:30 Massa's got nine laps left on his current run and has just clocked his best of the day at 1m26.508s.

15:31 Webber flashes over the line and is shown the in arrow, so Red Bull has its race distance completed.

15:31 Our experts @eddstrawF1 and Gary Anderson will be looking over the lap data later on - check out their blog updates on the site this evening

Rosberg15:33 As Webber pits the Red Bull, Rosberg grabs the fastest time with a 1m23.752s effort in the Mercedes.

15:35 Rosberg doesn't last long at the top of the order, with Petrov now fastest in 1m23.474s.

15:35 Hamilton has set out on a long run, with 18 laps to go according to his pitboard.

15:37 Petrov returns to the Renault garage after topping the times on a run of just two flying laps.

15:40 It's fairly busy out there with Rosberg, Hamilton, Sutil, Trulli, Massa, Perez and Mondini lapping.

15:42 Hamilton is now five laps into a long run, lapping in the 1m29s bracket.

15:42 But Rosberg puts his Mercedes back on top of the order with a new benchmark of 1m23.168s.

15:46 Massa is on a pretty decent long run, with times ranging from 1m27s to 1m28s as the tyres age ... and in he comes to the Ferrari pit.

15:48 Petrov moves up to second fastest, clocking a 1m23.463s. The Russian has been doing a series of short runs in the last hour.

15:50 Into the final ten minutes of the session for today.

15:50 Glock sets his best time in 1m26.598s and is now 10th fastest in the Virgin.

15:52 Trulli is on track in the Lotus and chases Hamilton's McLaren down the pit straight. The latter is 10 laps into a long run, setting times in the 1m31s region.

15:53 Trulli has made it past Hamilton and clocked a 1m25.454s to move up to sixth fastest.

15:53 After cooling off from his race distance, Webber is off out again for a late run in the Red Bull.

15:55 Hamilton has stopped pushing now on this run and is touring around doing what looks to be some aerodynamic data gathering.

15:58 Today's chequered flag waver is getting ready for action in the gantry above the start/finish line.

15:59 But that is pre-empted by the red flag coming out.

16:00 The culprit looks to be Webber in the Red Bull.

16:02 The stoppage means it's going to be the end of today's action at the Circuit de Catalunya.

16:03 CCTV picks up Webber stopped at the chicane before Campsa - Turns 7 and 8.

16:03 That's it for our live coverage for today.

We're off to catch up with the drivers. Stick with AUTOSPORT for all the reaction to today's test.

16:03 We'll be back for the final day here from 08.00 GMT tomorrow.

  FASTEST TIMES
P Driver Team Time
1  RosbergMercedes 1m23.168s
2  PetrovRenault 1m23.463s  +0.295
3  HamiltonMcLaren 1m23.858s  +0.690
4  MaldonadoWilliams 1m24.815s  +1.647
5  WebberRed Bull 1m24.995s  +1.827
6  TrulliLotus 1m25.454s  +2.286
7  PerezSauber 1m25.557s  +2.389
8  SutilForce India 1m25.720s  +2.552
9  BuemiToro Rosso 1m26.155s  +2.987
10  MassaFerrari 1m26.508s  +3.340
11  GlockVirgin 1m26.598s  +3.430
12  MondiniHRT 1m28.178s  +5.010
13  RicciardoToro Rosso 1m28.329s  +5.161
14  KarthikeyanHRT 1m30.722s  +7.554
All timing unofficial. Updated: 16:03 GMT
  OVERVIEW DAY THREE  
  CURRENT WEATHER
Mainly sunny High Temp: 14°C / 57°F
Track: Dry
  INFOBOX
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