07:40 Good morning and welcome to a dry, but still cold, Barcelona for day three of Formula 1's final pre-season test of 2013.

07:47 This is the view of the Barcelona pitlane this morning. The grey skies of the past two days are a thing of the past, so there should be plenty of opportunity for 'proper' race simulations today.

07:51 Already a bit of a delay at Williams this morning, which has been entertainingly documented by the tweets of team manager Dickie Stanford. He arrived at 6am to greet a van carrying new car parts, only to see the van not arrive until almost 8:30. Let's see whether that affects the team's plan today.

07:53 Some breaking news courtesy of @noblef1. Kimi Raikkonen is ill and will be replaced by Lotus reserve driver Davide Valsecchi this morning. Romain Grosjean, who finished his pre-season programme yesterday, has been told to turn around and come back to the track. He is due at Barcelona this afternoon.

08:00 Today's driver line-up is as follows...

Red Bull: Webber
Ferrari: Massa
McLaren: Perez
Lotus: Valsecchi (am)/TBA (pm)
Mercedes: Hamilton
Williams: Maldonado (am)/#BOTTAS (pm)
Sauber: Gutierrez
Toro Rosso: Vergne
Force India: Sutil
Caterham: van der Garde
Marussia: Bianchi

08:01 The green flags are out and we're underway.

08:04 Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso is the first car out on the circuit and instantly he's conducting constant-speed runs, as is Sergio Perez in the McLaren.

08:08 Installation laps are the name of the game at this early stage of the day. No flying laps completed. Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Gutierrez are the two men currently on-track.

08:17 Last night was a busy one with the driver goings-on at Marussia. Amusingly several drivers were linked with the seat during the day. Heikki Kovalainen was about the most sensible, although Pedro de la Rosa and even Mika Salo were mentioned in the press room.

08:18 Jules Bianchi, the man eventually confirmed as Max Chilton's team-mate, has just ventured onto the track for his first run in the MR02, and is, as expected, conducting a constant-speed run over the start/finish line.

08:24 The photographers are enjoying the light levels at the moment, all of which help their photos look a bit more arty. Here's an early one of Perez's McLaren from Turn 5 this morning.

08:28 All morning we're inviting you to put your questions to AUTOSPORT technical expert Craig Scarborough, who will be sitting down to answer them this afternoon. You can tweet questions to @autosportlive #Askscarbs or email live@autosport.com.

08:29 Perez sets the first time of the day on a 1m26.459s.

08:30 That marker doesn't last long as Hamilton is immediatley into the 1m23s, 3s faster than the Mexican.

08:33 Van der Garde and Vergne are both out on the track too, as are Gutierrez and Bianchi. None have gone as fast as Hamilton though.

08:38 Massa breaks the 'mediums only' strategy employed so far this morning by going out on a set of red-marked supersofts.

08:41 Air temperature is 9 deg right now with a track temperature of 12 deg. Expect that to rise rapidly as the sun climbs higher in the sky.

08:43 @lotus_F1team: We can officially deny any made-up reports that #Kimi was out partying with HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

08:48 Here's the first picture of Jules Bianchi driving a Marussia. If he were English, his name would be Julian White. Doesn't sound anything like as fast, does it?

08:50 @mycaterhamf1: Front ride-height and front wing flap adjustments for Giedo before his next run.

08:58 Vergne is out on another run and goes up to second, having knocked three seconds off his best from half an hour ago.

09:01 Mark Webber heads out as Adrian Sutil pits. Red Bull team manager Jonathan Wheatley wandered up to the press room earlier and spent a little while peering out of the window directly above his team's garage. Concerned at what new parts the paddock spies might be able to catch a glimpse of perhaps?

09:03 With an hour gone Hamilton leads by 0.7s from Vergne with Perez third. Hamilton has completed 16 laps, more than anybody else today. Sutil, Bianchi, Webber and Valsecchi have all been on the track, but have not completed any flying laps.

09:09 Massa jumps up to third with a 1m25.2, an improvement of over a second from the Brazilian.

09:12 @pedrodelarosa1: F Renault Championship 1992. Look who finished 4th!

09:14 Gutierrez improves too. A 1m27.8 becomes a 1m25.3. He's now fourth.

09:18 The longest stint of the morning so far has been a 13-lapper from Hamilton, featuring nine flying laps.

09:20 Remember to send in your questions for technical guru Craig Scarborough, who will be joining us for 'Ask Scarbs' this afternoon. Tweet your questions to @autosportlive #AskScarbs or email live@autosport.com.

09:22 Sutil has officially clocked-up 10 laps this morning, although none of them have been fliers. Force India's mechanics are currently using the time to practice race-style pitstops.

09:28 Hamilton sets a blistering pace at the front. A 1m21.534s lap to put himself 2.5s clear of Vergne.

09:31 That's the fastest lap time set at Barcelona this year. It came on unmarked tyres.

09:33 First flying lap of the day for Mark Webber and he's straight into third in the Red Bull.

09:39 Van der Garde improves his time by a tenth. He's still the slowest of the seven cars that have set a time. The Dutchman is on the medium Pirellis.

09:42 Vergne gets down into the 1m23s for the first time today and remains second. A few seconds later Bianchi crosses the line to set his first time in a Marussia.

09:44 @officialsf1team: "To begin with, @EstebanGtz is doing aero work. Later in the programme are a qualifying and a race simulation."

09:47 @paulhembery: "Hamilton using prototype SOFT for his time. Tyres are identical to 2013 range, just back up production location."

09:49 A bit more info on Hamilton's tyres, in case you weren't around yesterday. The tyres are produced at Pirelli's Romanian plant as a back-up in case the rubber cannot be transported from its main Istanbul factory. Unmarked batches are brought to tests for quality testing. Each team has four sets, which do not count against their testing allocations.

09:50 Our technical guru Craig Scarborough has just arrived back from the pitlane and tells us that the Williams upgrades that arrived late this morning include Red Bull-style sidepods. We'll have a picture for you as soon as we can.

09:56 Red flag. Van der Garde's Caterham has stopped at Turn 6.

10:00 The recovery vehicles are already in attendance. Shouldn't be long before we're back underway.

10:02 @mycaterhamf1: Mechanical issue for @GvanderGarde stops him out on track just after starting his latest stint.

10:05 Not the usual dry-fuel run for van der Garde then, the team confirming it was a mechanical problem that stopped the car. No oil is being reported on the track.

10:06 We're back underway as Massa and Gutierrez head out, joined by Maldonado and Sutil.

10:10 Maldonado, new sidepods affixed, completes his first lap of the day.

10:12 Gutierrez goes second in the Sauber. He has medium tyres on. Perez and Bianchi also improve.

10:15 Another hot lap from Hamilton as he brings the top time down to a 1m20.817s. We'll check on what tyres he has on next time around.

10:16 Mediums for Hamilton that time.

Here's a quick pic of the new Red Bull-style sidepods being used by Williams.

10:23 If you want to ask our resident technical oracle (we do seem to be elevating his status as the morning goes on) Craig Scarborough about the Williams sidepods, or any other technical matter, you can in 'Ask Scarbs' this afternoon. Tweet your questions to @autosportlive #AskScarbs or email live@autosport.com.

10:24 A big improvement from Gutierrez finds him a second on medium tyres. Hamilton's advantage is reduced to a still vast 1.9s.

10:25 @scarbsF1 "Mclaren are running their new front wing, they've aslo returned to the old vertical turning vanes under the nose."

10:29 And we're in the dark for a few minutes as the timing screens in the press room decide to fail.

10:30 Not for long though. Our info is restored as Davide Valsecchi - in for the ill Kimi Raikkonen this morning, remember - sets his first time of the day, putting him ninth.

10:37 Massa finds three tenths and moves up to fourth spot.

10:41 Red Bull's earlier recce of the press room has resulted in Webber pulling into his pit stall far closer in to the garage itself than Vettel was doing yesterday. The mechanics are being doubly-quick with pushing the RB9 back into the garage too.

10:44 @rgrosjean: On my way to jump into my E21 in Barcelona.

10:49 Bianchi's first 'proper' lap on mediums is just 0.3s slower than team-mate Max Chilton managed in six days of driving here. Impressive. The Frenchman goes ninth.

10:50 Hamilton knocks nearly three tenths off his best time to improve his own marker at the head of the field. He's on the soft tyres.

10:50 We have a red flag.

10:51 Valsecchi's Lotus has stopped at the entrance to Turn 3.

11:01 We're back underway.

11:02 @lotus_f1team: "Romain will be back in the car this afternoon for some bonus track time in the dry. On his was back from Paris now."

11:05 Finally Adrian Sutil gets a time on the board. He goes fourth quickest with it too.

11:08 Gutierrez and Massa improve ahead of him too. Both are on the yellow-marked soft tyres. Mark Webber is out on mediums.

11:09 Webber improves by a second. He's now on a best of 1m23.4s, a fraction behind Sutil.

11:15 After his earlier stoppage, Valsecchi is back out. So is Maldonado. These two have the least laps to their name of anyone today, just 11 and 20 respectively.

11:16 Valsecchi, on soft tyres, instantly improves to a 1m23.4s. That's 1.2s faster than his previous best and moves him up four spots to fifth.

11:23 Both Sauber and Caterham are testing supersofts at the moment. Gutierrez finds four tenths as he remains second.

11:28 It's all gone a bit quiet out on track, so here's a shadowy shot of Davide Valsecchi in his Lotus from this morning.

11:33 Sutil unleashes a belter of a lap to put himself third, just behind Massa. He's on softs.

11:41 Maldonado lifts himself off the foot of the timesheets with his first lap on softs. He's now third, the Venezuelan gaining over 3s on his previous best. Vergne also improves in seventh.

11:44 Sutil goes second, still 1.2s off Hamilton though.

11:46 Interesting that van der Garde's pace on his first lap on a set of supersofts was more or less identical to that on softs.

11:48 Supersofts for Vergne in the closing moments of the session.

11:49 Sutil improves to 1m21.627s. He's still second.

11:51 Sutil set his best time on the soft tyre, as did Hamilton earlier.

11:51 Massa now gets into the 1m21s.

11:53 Webber heads out with less than eight minutes to go.

11:55 Sutil is back out and appears to be on the Supersoft.

11:56 Webber improves, on the medium, with 1m23.116s. Hamilton heads out on track for the final three minutes.

11:57 And the Mercedes has come straight back in.

11:58 Sutil does a 1m21.774s on the Supersofts, a fraction off his earlier soft-tyred time. The Supersofts are giving up too early to give an advantage.

12:01 And that's it. No more improvements, so Hamilton ends up on top, his best over a second quicker than Sutil in second.

12:02 So the order at the end of the first morning with decent weather at the test this week is: Mercedes-Force India-Ferrari-Williams-Sauber.

12:04 It's the lunch break now. Thanks for joining us.

Be sure to come back at 2pm Spanish time (1pm UK) for the afternoon session, when we expect some of the teams to try race runs.

12:05 Thanks also for all the Ask Scarbs questions we've been sent. He'll be answering them during the afternoon session.

12:58 The penultimate afternoon session is about to begin - when we can expect some more long runs from the teams.

12:59 The big talking point this morning was Lewis Hamilton's headline time - impressive no matter what fuel load he was running

13:00 At Lotus, Romain Grosjean has arrived in Barcelona and has been racing to the track so he can get on with more preparations for Australia

13:01 The other driver change is taking place at Williams, where Maldonado tried out the revised FW35 this morning. Bottas is taking over for the afternoon

13:03 The green flag is out - but pit lane remains quiet for now

13:04 The dry day today has been hugely important for teams, who are still trying to get a better understanding of their car and tyres ahead of the first race.

13:05 It also fits in well with the development plan - as it has been noticeable how many vans have been arriving in the paddock today dropping off new parts

13:09 Maybe the teams are enjoying the Spanish sunshine a bit too much. Still all quiet here

13:10 There are a few wheel guns being prepared in the pit lane, and an engine is fired up in one of the distant garages

13:10 And Lewis Hamilton starts the afternoon proceedings. Let's see if this is a full-on race simulation

13:11 Marussia's new signing Jules Bianchi also heads out of the pits

13:11 Well the time has come for 'Ask Scarbs'. Our technical guru Craig Scarborough has joined us and has picked out a list of your questions to answer. Let's get started.

13:12 Hamilton comes past the pits. He is on mediums, so this could well be the start of a longer run

13:13 Toro Rosso also looks like it is preparing for some race simulation. The pit crew are all ready and wheel guns in place for some tyre changes

13:13 Question 1. Bogata in Hungary asks: "Which teams do you expect to run with the passive DRS in Melbourne and whose looks the most promising?"

@scarbsF1: “It’s not clear who will run it in Melbourne. Indeed, Melbourne isn't a good track to exploit the passive DRS. But so far, Red Bull, Sauber, Mercedes and Lotus have tested it. I'd expect them to test it on Friday in Malaysia, as it has longer straights.”

13:14 That was a 1m31.580s lap from Hamilton - which is more than 10 seconds adrift of his best effort from this morning. Clearly there is plenty of fuel on board

13:14 Vergne now heads out of the pits too

13:15 A quicker lap from Hamilton there. 1m27.975s. Bianchi, who is also out on the mediums, puts in a 1m30.375s lap

13:16 Will Crouch: Do you have an opinion on Marussia and Catherham's prospects relatively to each other and of finally getting some points?

@scarbsf1: “It’s a shame to say, but I don't see them having many chances for scoring points in normal conditions. So far, Marussia might have the edge, but Caterham has yet to run its new aero package so the balance will vary through the season.”

13:16 Vergne comes in to the pits but drives through - more race simulation preparations

13:17 As Bianchi continues (1m29.925s), Hamilton comes in

13:17 Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil has been out on the softs and has now come through the pits

13:18 Vergne is back in slowly and is wheeled back in to the garage by his mechanics

13:19 Bianchi is continuing his longer run, while Sutil is back out on the softs

13:21 Sutil's lap of 1m31.821 is just more than 10 seconds adrift of his best effort from earlier, so again it looks like he is well fuelled up

13:23 Perez heads out now to join the action

13:25 So Sutil either made a mistake or there is some big tyre deg going on. His run of laps are 1m31.821, 1m32.380, 1m33.238...

13:25 Phil from Germany: What is the main reason why Caterham and Marussia still struggle to make it to the midfield? Is it the aerodynamics or is it some major chassis/suspension problem? And why don't they just try to copy other teams' solutions?

@scarbsf1:"The main reason is that F1 cars are so complex and integrated that it takes time to mature your design to the same level as the experienced teams. You can speed up this process with more money to buy more resources. Copying won't help, as although you can make a part that looks similar, you cannot understand exactly how it works and you end up being slower."

13:26 That lap from Sutil was a 1m33.697s so look like it is down to tyre performance. These are the soft tyres through - so degradation is to be expected

13:27 Perez, who was out on softs and did a 1m23.127s now comes through the pits - and rejoins the action

13:28 Anon: Looking at the passive DRS systems used by Lotus and Red Bull, which do you think is the better solution?

@scarbsf1: “The Red Bull and, in particular, the Sauber systems are very well-integrated. I still think the Lotus and Mercedes systems are 'tacked' onto the car.”

13:28 Bianchi comes in to the pits after a 10 lap run

13:29 Lewis Hamilton is back out on track, while Sutil is still pushing on. That lap was 1m35.548s from the Force India driver, so the tyres are really struggling to pace right now

13:30 For reference, Perez is on the soft tyres

13:30 Matthias from Berlin: The launch-spec Williams had a very high nose. It seemed to me that the nose tip was far higher than the allowed 525mm above the reference plane. Is the Williams launch-spec nose really higher than 525mm and is this permitted?

@scarbsf1: “I think it’s just a visual thing and I'm sure the nose is low enough. But the vanity panel can still form a slightly higher tip than the rules, which demand the crash structure inside the nose is lower than 550mm, state.”

13:32 Giedo van der Garde is continuing to experiment with the super soft rubber, as Perez returns to the pits

13:32 After a 1m36.949s lap, Sutil thinks the time has come for a change of rubber and he dives in to the pits to get suited and booted

13:33 Rick: Lewis Hamilton set a time this morning using "unmarked" tyres. What exactly are these tyres?

@scarbsf1: “The unmarked tyres Hamilton run were prototype soft-compound tyres.”

13:35 Vergne heads out of the pits, and does a practice start as he joins the action

13:35 Simon: With all the talk of cost-cutting in F1, would it be a good idea to keep the same car for two years during a period of relative rules stability, rather than designing a new car every year? And how many of the 2013 cars are evolutions rather than clean slates?

@scarbsf1: “That would be a good-cost cutting measure. Aside from updated crash tests, there isn't a lot of difference in the monocoques year-on-year. As much as teams say their cars are all new each year, the cars are so complex that many parts have little performance impact and never change. You will find components on the Red Bull that still bear part numbers from the Stewart days!”

13:36 Sutil has chosen another set of softs for this run. That first flying lap was a 1m33.653s

13:37 We just have time for a few more questions with @scarbsF1 before he heads back to the pitlane to suss out more new technical innovations on the cars testing today.

13:38 Vergne comes through the pits - revving the engine to warm up the tyres. This is likely to be more race sim work

13:38 Luffy: Can you describe the Coanda exhaust principle. Where did it get its name?

@scarbsf1: “It got its name from Henri-Marie Coanda, who discovered the effect in 1930. It’s the tendency for a flow of gas to follow a curved surface. Teams curve down the bodywork behind the exhaust to turn from pointing upwards (as per the rules) to downwards towards the diffuser.”

13:39 More obvious tyre degradation on the softs for Sutil. His run of laps have been 1m33.653s, 1m33.705 and 1m34.332

13:41 Gary Mah: Will the cars would be significantly slower next year as a result of the new regulations? Also, do you think the new regulations could help encourage more overtaking?

@scarbsf1: “I don't think speeds will be that much slower and the cars certainly won’t be slow or quiet! As the different types of energy recovery system are controlled by the throttle pedal rather than a button, there will be less of a push-to-pass effect. In some respects this might hinder overtaking.”

13:41 Bottas is out on the soft tyres. His first flying lap of the day is about to get underway

13:42 Si in Inverness: Is the passive blown-wing concept worth pursuing? Is it leading a few teams down a technical blind alley when they could be concentrating on other more important things?

@scarbsf1: “I'm surprised the concept wasn't banned in the 2013 regulations. It’s legal, but I don't agree with it. I wouldn't be surprised if one accident caused by the system saw it banned immediately. However, if you can get it working, it is definitely a benefit.”

13:42 Bottas just puts in a lap of 1m25.396s - which is about one second faster than Hamilton is currently delivering with his medium tyres

13:43 That's all we've got time for on 'Ask Scarbs' today. A big thanks to all of you for sending in your questions.

13:43 No degradation problems for Hamilton as his lap time improves - from the 1m26s to the 1m24s.

13:45 Meanwhile, van der Garde is continuing his long run on the hard tyres. He has settled in to the mid 1m34s range

13:46 Sutil again is going through a lot of degradation. He is about to get overtaken by Bottas, who is almost 8 seconds a lap quicker

13:47 Felipe Massa is now out in action for Ferrari

13:48 van der Garde completes his stint for Caterham on the hard tyres, and Bottas too comes in

13:50 Vergne is on the hards and does not appearing to be suffering as much degradation as Sutil on the softs - although of course we do not know what fuel they are running

13:52 So Sutil's stint on the softs, started in the 1m33s region and ended in the 1m36s region. Vergne is current lapping in the high 1m32s on the hards

13:53 That latest lap from Vergne was 1m33.751s

13:54 All eyes at the big teams will be in monitoring Lewis Hamilton's run on the medium tyres here this afternoon. He has gone from 1m24s laps to 1m26s now, but deg appears to be slowing down

13:55 Sutil has changed on to the medium tyres now - and lapping in the low 1m32s region

13:57 Hamilton is in, as Sutil improves a little to do a 1m31.330s lap

13:57 A few set-up changes for Bottas and he is out again in the Williams

13:58 Bottas is on the hard tyres

13:59 Having flown all the way back from Paris, Grosjean is now out for Lotus. He has started his afternoon's work on the medium tyre

14:02 Bottas comes in to the pits - which leave Sutil (medium), Perez (hards), Vergne (hards), Bianchi (medium), van der Garde (medium) and Grosjean (medium) out on track

14:03 Grosjean has improved to a 1m24.130s on the medium tyres

14:04 Sutil's times appear to have stabilished in the mid 1m32s region - so he will be trying to eke out as many laps as he can from this set of tyres

14:05 Grosjean is back in

14:08 So three drivers out on track now - Sutil, Vergne and van der Garde. All of them lapping in the 1m31s - 1m32s region

14:12 Bottas now joins in on hards, Sutil comes in.

14:12 And the Force India blasts straight back out again as Sutil continues his 'race' run.

14:14 It looks like he is now on the hards.

14:14 Bottas has set his best time of the day on 1m23.830s.

14:16 Grosjean records a new best, 1m23.831s, on the mediums.

14:17 Gutierrez prepares to go out on the soft tyre.

14:18 And Grosjean's Lotus does a 1m23.482s.

14:19 Hamilton is now out on the mediums.

14:19 So, currently on track are:
Hamilton (medium)
Sutil (hard)
Massa (soft)
Gutierrez (soft)
Vergne (medium)
Grosjean (medium) and coming in
van der Garde (soft)

14:21 Massa records 1m21.505s to go second fastest.

14:24 Apart from the Ferrari, Hamilton is the fastest on track, in the 1m25s last time through.

14:24 After a slow lap, Massa bangs in a 1m22.6 on the softs, so the rubber has already lost a second.

14:28 Perez has also gone out, so now it is only Lotus and Marussia not on track. Massa comes in for a quick stop, straight back out.

14:30 Hamilton is still in the 1m26s, then a 1m27s. Looking pretty good.

14:31 Perez in. And Massa in, for longer this time.

14:32 Lotus sends Grosjean out.

14:32 Hamilton back in the 1m26s again, as Grosjean does a 1m23.566s, just shy of his best.

14:34 Grosjean improves to 1m23.380s. Vergne makes a quick stop.

14:35 The Lotus is on the medium tyre. Next lap is 1m24.7s

14:36 Vergne is now on softs. Grosjean back in. He is still doing short runs.

14:38 Hamilton is now in. Sutil in the 1m27s on the hard tyre.

14:42 Sutil now in the 1m28s on his race run, the same as Vergne on softs.

14:42 Bottas out on mediums.

14:43 Massa is also heading down the pitlane.

14:43 Gutierrez in the 1m31s and 1m32s, now on hards.

14:43 Sutil gets back in the 1m27s.

14:44 Bottas laps just a fraction off his best and is currently the fastest on track.

14:45 The Williams is in, still short runs for Bottas.

14:46 And Massa improves again, to 1m21.457s, but is still second. Webber is currently out on hards.

14:48 As expected, Massa does a slow lap on the softs. Will he now try for a second quick lap like he did before?

14:50 He does, but it's still only a 1m22.975s.

14:51 Bianchi heads out after 45 minutes in the pits.

14:52 And he laps within a fraction of his best so far. Sutil is currently in the 1m29s.

14:54 Grosjean has started a run on the hard tyres with 1m27s and 1m28s.

14:56 Sutil is now consistently in the 1m28s and 1m29s on his long run.

14:56 Grosjean is also in the 1m29s, but he hasn't been out anything like as long.

14:58 Hamilton heads back out in the pacesetting Mercedes.

14:58 Bottas is also back on track for Williams.

15:01 Massa also goes out, so the top three fastest cars from today are now circulating.

15:01 Hamilton does a 1m24.7 as Perez comes in.

15:02 And then a 1m26.8s, on the mediums.

15:03 Sutil comes in. It looks like that's the end of his long run.

15:04 Massa does a 1m21.609s, yet another quick run, but nobody can get anywhere near Hamilton's time from this morning.

15:04 Hamilton records 1m25.989s. Those two are the quickest currently on track.

15:07 Grosjean is now in the 1m30s, on hards for a longer run.

15:07 Webber is now out in the Red Bull.

15:10 Massa pits, Hamilton laps in 1m26.976s.

15:12 Grosjean pits. Webber is on the hards. Red Bull is clearly not bothered about chasing times at this stage.

15:13 Webber records 1m26.076s on the hards.

15:13 Bianchi improves his time, with 1m24.028s for Marussia.

15:14 Hamilton stops, Mercedes still doing shortish runs on the mediums.

15:14 Webber's next times on the hards are 1m27s and 1m28s.

15:15 Bottas shaves four thousandths off his previous best!

15:16 Bianchi pits after his short soft-tyre run.

15:19 Massa is back out and is on the Supersoft. Can he keep them alive long enough to improve on his soft time?

15:21 Yes, he can - 1m21.359s. But the Ferrari is still 0.8s off Hamilton...

15:21 Massa's first two sectors were green, third one yellow as the tyres went away.

15:22 Vergne pits to end his race run.

15:23 Massa backs off for a lap, then goes again and records 1m23.2s.

15:27 Grosjean heads back out, joining Hamilton, Gutierrez and Perez on the circuit.

15:29 Bottas heads out too.

15:29 Hamilton is in the 1m25s on another of his medium-tyred runs.

15:31 Gutierrez pits. Bottas sets a new best of 1m22.613s on the soft tyres.

15:34 Bottas pits, Massa heads back out.

15:37 Massa goes again on the Supersoft and records 1m21.266s.

15:40 The session has been red-flagged with 20 minutes to go. Not yet sure why.

15:41 Massa has stopped out on the circuit.

15:48 We're getting suggestions that a wheel came off, although the CCTV didn't pick it up, so we can't yet confirm.

15:49 Yes, picture confirmation shows that a wheel came off on the back straight.

15:53 And we're back on again with just seven minutes to go.

15:56 Quite a few cars, including Hamilton head back out. Webber, on softs, does a 1m22.658s.

15:56 Bottas and van der Garde have also set personal bests.

15:59 Hamilton again in the 1m24s and 1m25s on the hard tyres, but the initial flurry after the restart is subsiding.

16:00 And Webber takes the chequered flag. Day three is over. Just one more pre-season day of running to go!

16:02 So Hamilton's morning time remained easily quickest, with Massa moving up to second in the afternoon. The Ferrari driver's 1m21.266s lap on supersofts was fastest after lunch.

16:03 Mercedes-Ferrari-Force India-Williams. Both Williams drivers in the top five, with just over a tenth between them.

16:03 Thanks for joining us and be sure to look out for our news and analysis later this evening and tomorrow morning.

16:04 We will, of course, be back again first thing tomorrow to bring you the final, crucial, day of testing before the Australian GP.

16:30 Final word today. If you want a quick summary of the third day of testing, have a look at our report.

Hope to see you all tomorrow!