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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day three

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Giovinazzi's setting some nice laps in the 1m18s on C3s, he's popped up into P5.
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News from the Ferrari camp: the team is fitting a new engine in the car. They'll be back on track in the afternoon as they investigate the old one at Maranello.
Stopwatch
Bottas shaves a tenth off of his time, punching in a 1m16.674s to cement a 0.962s advantage over Verstappen.
Kvyat gets into the 1m17s, doing his running on a set of C3s. Latifi's up into the 1m19s, 2.6s adrift of Bottas's pace.
Nico Rosberg, testing the Williams FW27 at the end of 2005. The little arrow symbol on the nose is that of the original Frank Williams Racing Cars team

Nico Rosberg, testing the Williams FW27 at the end of 2005. The little arrow symbol on the nose is that of the original Frank Williams Racing Cars team

That lap from Bottas was the fastest we've seen so far - and the lap he's just set is the second-fastest of testing so far. It's all about Valtteri.
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Here's how many laps everybody has managed to tick off so far, with Vettel - ironically the cause - atop the chart.

1 Vettel 40
2 Ocon 38
3 Sainz 36
4 Giovinazzi 26
5 Stroll 23
6 Bottas 23
7 Kvyat 23
8 Verstappen 19
9 Latifi 18
10 Grosjean 17
11 Gasly 7
12 Ricciardo 5
13 Norris 4
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We're now halfway through the morning session - two hours left on the clock.
Stroll also sets a 1m17.657 to go up to P3, setting the quickest first sector in the process.
Stopwatch
Bottas goes quickest on C3s, it's a 1m16.863s for the Mercedes driver.
Before the red flag, Verstappen was spotted in the Red Bull hospitality - and he's still not out on track. Perhaps a bit of repair-work being done to his RB16?
Ocon, Bottas, Giovinazzi, Grosjean and Latifi join Sainz on the circuit.
There's a bit of a rip in the Ferrari drape - can anyone at the circuit with a sewing kit please report to the pitlane?
Green flag
And we're back running again! Sainz goes out on track.
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The session will restart at 10:55 local time - so that's in less than five minutes.
Vettel's car is finally being winched onto the flat-bed truck, dressed in a red drape. This might be a little excessive, but it is still quite cold out.
Here's Renault's R27 during pre-season testing in 2007, before the white/orange tones of ING rather spoiled the show...

Here's Renault's R27 during pre-season testing in 2007, before the white/orange tones of ING rather spoiled the show...

Vettel, stopped at the side of the circuit. Ferrari has found an even larger red flag to drape over the car.

Vettel, stopped at the side of the circuit. Ferrari has found an even larger red flag to drape over the car.

Autosport
For those still pondering what the FIA plans to do about Mercedes' DAS system, ponder no longer. The system won't be permitted in the revamped 2021 technical regs, but could still be copied by rival teams this year. Here's JONATHAN NOBLE with more.

Dual-axis steering like Mercedes F1 system won't be allowed in 2021

The FIA will only allow Formula 1 teams to run dual-axis steering systems until the end of 2020, and has outlawed the Mercedes-developed device for the start of 2021

Dual-axis steering like Mercedes F1 system won't be allowed in 2021
Red flag
And that's Red Flag No. 2! Vettel stops at turn 12, pausing the session.
Ocon, meanwhile, has vaulted up the order to P2. He's now coming around again to log lap no. 30 for the morning.
A little bit of gridlock at Turn 3 - Grosjean attempted to pass Kvyat around the outside, and the Russian wasn't particularly happy with the Haas driver's actions. Lads, it's testing.
Grosjean is now up to 10 laps, as is Latifi - so everyone's up to double figures.
Eric Prydz, Wheatus, or Crazy Frog? We'll leave it up to you to decide what the Alfa Romeo mechanics use for their morning warmup routines.

Eric Prydz, Wheatus, or Crazy Frog? We'll leave it up to you to decide what the Alfa Romeo mechanics use for their morning warmup routines.

Vettel has the largest number of laps so far, having logged 32 of them in the opening one-and-a-quarter hours. Grosjean, at the other end of the scale, only has five.
Lance Stroll's back on track in his pink Racing Point machine, and powers over the line with a 1m17.991s to go P2 in the standings so far. That's still 0.355s off of Verstappen's best.
Another day, another testing livery! Remember when Red Bull first joined F1 all those years ago? Here's the team's first test at the end of 2004, with the Jaguar R5 chassis.

Another day, another testing livery! Remember when Red Bull first joined F1 all those years ago? Here's the team's first test at the end of 2004, with the Jaguar R5 chassis.

After a bit of a lairy moment at Turn 7, Verstappen has pulled into the pits for a quick once-over by the mechanics. He rather clunked the raised kerb section there.
Stopwatch
Verstappen has done a 1m17.636s to go quickest in this session, setting his lap on C2s.
Vettel, Sainz and Verstappen have all joined Ocon out on track for the start of the second hour.
Yes, the driver of said Manor was Roberto Merhi - we expect most of you to remember Spain's 15th grand prix driver given he was still racing in Formula 2 as recently as 2018. The 2011 Formula 3 Euroseries champion - beating the likes of DTM champion Marco Wittmann and Formula E race-winners Felix Rosenqvist and Daniel Abt - is now racing in the Asian Le Mans Series.
Ocon is alone in hustling it around the circuit at the moment, and he's doing some fairly impressive laptimes. After his back-to-back personal bests, he's done an 18.777, a 19.004 and a 19.106.
Ocon's next lap is 1m18.353s, taking him to third place behind Bottas and Verstappen.
In the continued absence of Fernando Alonso from the Formula 1 paddock, the Spanish fans only have one man to cheer - Carlos Sainz Jr. But as recently as 2015, there were three Spaniards on the grid. Can you remember who was tasked with pedalling the recalcitrant Manor that year?

In the continued absence of Fernando Alonso from the Formula 1 paddock, the Spanish fans only have one man to cheer - Carlos Sainz Jr. But as recently as 2015, there were three Spaniards on the grid. Can you remember who was tasked with pedalling the recalcitrant Manor that year?

Ocon improves to fourth place, leapfrogging Vettel. His long run earlier today looked fairly handy, and it appears he's on another decently low-fuel stint again.
The cameras catch a slight moment from Bottas at Turn 5, but he keeps his Mercedes pointed the right way. Meanwhile, Giovinazzi moves up to seventh in his flow-viz'd Alfa Romeo.
Stopwatch
And now Bottas goes top, posting a 1m17.992s on the C2.
Bottas does just that, slotting in just over three tenths behind Verstappen.

By: Geoff Creighton

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