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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day three

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One more before lunch: After Vijay Mallya took over the Spyker team in 2007, the F8-VII cars ran in the end-of-year test in this fruity little scheme.

One more before lunch: After Vijay Mallya took over the Spyker team in 2007, the F8-VII cars ran in the end-of-year test in this fruity little scheme.

Renault has confirmed Esteban Ocon is done for the morning. 76 laps on the board, marking a successful run for the Frenchman after a quiet Thursday.
There will be a few driver changes after lunch:

Mercedes: Hamilton
Red Bull: Albon
McLaren: Sainz
Renault: Ricciardo
AlphaTauri: Gasly
Haas: Magnussen
Lance Stroll has joined the party out on-track for Racing Point. He's circulating with Giovinazzi and Verstappen at the moment, getting in some final laps before chowing down some lunch in the break.
Information
With the first session nearing its end, here is the current lap count:

Ocon 76
Verstappen 67
Sainz 62
Giovinazzi 55
Bottas 53
Kvyat 50
Stroll 45
Latifi 44
Vettel 40
Grosjean 39
Bottas has now returned to the track on a set of C3 tyres.
Into the final 30 minutes of the morning session now. During the one-hour lunch break there'll still be plenty going on with Verstappen, Kvyat, Grosjean and Ocon all set to speak. FIA race director Michael Masi, Ferrari's Laurent Mekies and Renault's Alan Permane will appear in the scheduled F1 press conference as well.
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Sainz is closely following former teammate Verstappen on-track at the moment. McLaren teammate Lando Norris noted yesterday that dirty air is still a major problem with the 2020 cars: "I’m on a long run and a guy pulls out of the pits, I can’t even see him, and I go out of Turn 3 and Turn 9, and the car is all over the place with the dirty air. That still feels pretty awful."
Max Verstappen is closing on one race distance in the Red Bull RB16 today. He's racked up 61 laps - Spanish GP is 66 - and sits fifth in the overall timings.
Valentin Khorounzhiy has been looking at some of the runs in the media centre. He noted that Valtteri Bottas lost 0.7 seconds over six laps on the C3s, while Sebastian Vettel - a couple of hours earlier - lost 1.5 seconds across a similar stint before his Ferrari broke.
A wheely good view! Here's the inside of Williams's rear wheel design, showing all of the tricks used to manage tyre temperatures. Note the raised sections and drilled-out holes, which link to hollowed-out spokes.

A wheely good view! Here's the inside of Williams's rear wheel design, showing all of the tricks used to manage tyre temperatures. Note the raised sections and drilled-out holes, which link to hollowed-out spokes.

Getting really busy out there now with 40 minutes left on the clock. Only Bottas and the trouble-hit Vettel remain in the pits.
More statistical festivity regarding Bottas's rapid lap time - we're now only three-tenths of a second off the all-time F1 track record in Barcelona set by... *checks notes* ...Valtteri Bottas in Spanish GP qualifying last year (1m15.406s).
Verstappen, Giovinazzi and Kvyat are all out now getting in some laps.
Green flag
GREEN FLAG - We're back underway in Barcelona now that Latifi's car has been recovered.
That lap from Bottas means we are already under the fastest time from pre-season testing last year. Sebastian Vettel set the pace in 2019 with an effort of 1m16.221s - Bottas is almost half a second quicker!
Bottas's lap was set on the C5 tyre compound, the softest available at this test. He's 1.3 seconds clear of the field now. Mercedes is starting to stretch the legs of the W11 a bit more.
Latifi crossed the line to improve his time before the DRS popped shut, the car slowed, and he ground to a halt at pit exit. Marshals are tending to the car now.
Another Renault - sort of. It's the Benetton B201 in Renault colours, with Jenson Button at the wheel.

Another Renault - sort of. It's the Benetton B201 in Renault colours, with Jenson Button at the wheel.

Red flag
RED FLAG - The session is suspended following a stoppage for Nicholas Latifi at the end of the main straight in the Williams.
Stopwatch
And before Latifi pulled over, Bottas was able to pump in a new fastest time of the day - 1m15.732s. First time into the 1m15s in this test.
Crash
Latifi improves for Williams - but then grinds to a halt at the end of the main straight!!
Information
With just under an hour of the first session to go, let's have a rundown of the current order:

1 Bottas 1m16.417s
2 Ocon +0.685s
3 Stroll +0.921s
4 Kvyat +1.010s
5 Verstappen +1.219s
6 Giovinazzi +1.618s
7 Sainz +1.857s
8 Grosjean +1.963s
9 Vettel +1.967s
10 Latifi +2.612s
We're now into the final hour of the morning session in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas still leads for Mercedes ahead of Ocon and Stroll, while we're unlikely to see Ferrari until the afternoon now while it completes an engine change on Vettel's car following an earlier issue.
Stroll improves with his latest lap to rise to P3 for Racing Point. Ocon found time through the first sector but cannot string up the second and third, meaning he stays P2 for Renault.
An improvement from Esteban Ocon sees him leap up to second place for Renault, 0.685s back from Bottas at the top. Ocon has completed 60 laps so far today, more than any other driver.
Bottas pits at the end of his fast run, leaving only Ocon, Kvyat and Verstappen out on-track at present.
Another quick lap from Bottas and an improvement in the first sector on his PB, but he's short of an overall improvement. He's racked up around six or seven of the fastest laps of pre-season so far - a good showing from the Finn this morning.
Stopwatch
New fastest lap of the day and the test for Valtteri Bottas, the latest in a series of improvements. The new benchmark is 1m16.417s.
Grosjean did a 1m18.380s on C3s, and Giovinazzi's just personal bested with a 1m18.035s.
In response to the previous post, the esteemed Val Khorounzhiy also notes that Latifi and Verstappen raced against each other in the Florida Winter Series - against our own Ben Anderson! Will Buxton did it that year too, whoever he is...
Verstappen, Sainz and Latifi are the three men on-track. Fun fact: Latifi raced against both drivers in 2014; Verstappen in F3, Sainz in Formula Renault 3.5. The more you know...
Back in 2001, Toyota spent an entire year testing. This is the TF101, with a rather fetching red/white scheme - replaced by the brush stroke livery the year after.

Back in 2001, Toyota spent an entire year testing. This is the TF101, with a rather fetching red/white scheme - replaced by the brush stroke livery the year after.

Courtesy of our colleague Filip Cleeren, here's a picture of Sebastian Vettel getting a lot of paddock attention.

Courtesy of our colleague Filip Cleeren, here's a picture of Sebastian Vettel getting a lot of paddock attention.

Express delivery down at the Ferrari garage. Work is already underway to get the car back out again.

Express delivery down at the Ferrari garage. Work is already underway to get the car back out again.

Kvyat now torpedoes his way into that second spot, displacing Stroll with a 1m17.427s time. He's still three-quarters of a second off of Bottas, however.
Stroll set a 1m17.442s on C3s, going up to P2 with that.

By: Geoff Creighton

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