Barcelona test, day 3 - snow interrupts running

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

The third day of testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya got off to a snowy start. In ongoing cold conditions and snow covering the track, not a single car left the pits as they all awaited for conditions to improve.

By noon, still nobody had come out on track. The only real action was provided by some teams starting their car's engines from time to time.

Curiously, the circuit also announced that the lunch break was cancelled for the second day in a row.

At 13:11 local time, Fernando Alonso became the first man to hit the track. Fitted with full wets, he drove a cautious lap before returning to the pits without setting a time. Daniel Ricciardo completed a lap 15 minutes later, and another one around 14:30. The Austrian however found himself in the gravel on that one, but he escaped without trouble and returned safely to the pits.

Marcus Ericsson meanwhile for Sauber also had a go to discover today's wet track. Kubica and Hartley later also did an installation lap, with Alonso completing another few more to top the rankings of most completed laps today...

In the final 15 minutes of the session, Alonso finally stayed out for more than 2 laps to complete the first of just two timed laps of the entire day. The Spaniard's second timed lap, after another short stop and just before the chequered flag fell, saw him improve 3 seconds on his earlier time, topping the session without competition.