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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day three

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Coming up later: 'What we learned from Alonso's one lap on snow day'.
Alonso returns to the pits after a single lap on the full wet tyres. It causes far more interest at the media centre windows than a car driving slowly down the pits in the wet warrants.
And as the team promised on Twitter, it's McLaren with Fernando Alonso!
We have a car heading out...
Just to prove Gary Anderson knows what he's talking about when it comes to small teams and capitalising on tricky conditions, here's Rubens Barrichello starting on pole position for Jordan in at Spa 1994 after wet qualifying

Just to prove Gary Anderson knows what he's talking about when it comes to small teams and capitalising on tricky conditions, here's Rubens Barrichello starting on pole position for Jordan in at Spa 1994 after wet qualifying

So that's the first hour of the track being open, and we didn't see a single car. No lunch break today, so let's see what happens between now and 2pm local time. We won't sit too close to the edge of our seats.
Gary Anderson
Last year, F1 spent enormous amounts of time and money trying to make the circuit wet for tyre testing. It didn’t work very well. This year, there’s a genuinely wet track and nobody is going out. It’s ridiculous, there’s a set of circumstances here and there’s always something you can learn.

I know there are concerns about spares, but drivers don’t have to wring the neck of the car and you’ll always pick up something. You can play with the set-up, see what happens and as long as the driver is sensible and doesn’t push hard in the wrong place, you’ll get some work done. It’s better than going to Australia, racing in the wet and moaning about not knowing about the wet tyres!

Especially for smaller teams, if you have a bit more information for conditions like these, you're in a better position.

If I was here with Jordan, we’d be out there!
Autosport
Here's a little bit of an update from one of the drivers in action this week, Robert Kubica. The Williams reserve plans to drive Manor's Ginetta LMP1 car for a second time after his first run was hit by problems, but he says he is wary of his schedule becoming "messy" if he combines World Endurance Championship outings with his F1 role:

Robert Kubica's first Manor Ginetta LMP1 WEC test was truncated

Robert Kubica is set to test the Manor LMP1 car for a second time next month after his first test in the Ginetta was cut short

Robert Kubica's first Manor Ginetta LMP1 WEC test was truncated
Still little movement in the pits or the paddock despite that green flag (LAT Images)

Still little movement in the pits or the paddock despite that green flag (LAT Images)

Pirelli's wet tyres, minus complementary snow, will no doubt be weapons of choice for anybody heading out (LAT Images)

Pirelli's wet tyres, minus complementary snow, will no doubt be weapons of choice for anybody heading out (LAT Images)

We've not even had so much as an engine fire up since the track went live. There was supposedly some interest from certain teams in completing a lap when the track still looked snowy (who doesn't love a photo opportunity) but most of it has melted away now so it would be a lot of effort for not much of a result. The track is obviously very wet, and with an air temperature of 1.7C and track temperature at 3.9C there's not a lot in this for the teams at the moment.
Green flag
We do indeed have an open circuit now. Day three of this test begins!
Information
"Anticipated session start at 12:00" - so, basically now.
Here's some perfect snow day reading for you while the hold continues, as F1 Racing goes snow-karting with Kimi Raikkonen:

Karting on snow with Raikkonen - F1 - Autosport Plus

Seventeen years on from his Formula 1 debut, Kimi Raikkonen is determined to prove, in his own quiet way, that there's no crushing this ice(man)... Words PETER WINDSOR Pictures LAT/ZAK MAUGER

Karting on snow with Raikkonen - F1 - Autosport Plus
Cameras rarely do justice to snow storms, but here's our attempt at illustrating chunky flakes, with massive respect to the fans that are sitting this one out in the grandstand this morning!

Cameras rarely do justice to snow storms, but here's our attempt at illustrating chunky flakes, with massive respect to the fans that are sitting this one out in the grandstand this morning!

Sure enough, we have chunky flakes again.
British people are very good at detecting when it's sleet rather than snow. It's heading that way now here, but it did that earlier and then there was another deluge of chunky flakes.
Can't get enough of the snow shots? Check out motorsport.com's Wednesday gallery, featuring a handful of hats and a flurry of flakes:

Barcelona February testing Photos - Formula 1 Racing Event Photos

Barcelona February testing Photos - Formula 1 Racing Event Photos
Autosport
Why doesn't pre-season F1 testing take place in Bahrain, we hear you ask? It's not just about the higher cost - the demands of these four-day tests are too "brutal" for the smaller teams:

F1 testing demands too 'brutal' to use Bahrain instead of Spain - Haas

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner says the "brutal" logistical demands of Formula 1 pre-season testing would have made going to Bahrain impractical for smaller teams

F1 testing demands too 'brutal' to use Bahrain instead of Spain - Haas
Update: There's still plenty of snow about (LAT Images)

Update: There's still plenty of snow about (LAT Images)

Sauber snow facts #2 - Nick Heidfeld's Sauber-in-the-snow experience stretches back to the launch of the 2003 car at Fiorano

Sauber snow facts #2 - Nick Heidfeld's Sauber-in-the-snow experience stretches back to the launch of the 2003 car at Fiorano

Autosport
While we wait (and how long this delay goes on for is anybody's guess), why not add a backing track to your snow updates and catch up on yesterday's testing action with The Autosport Podcast? It's more than just white noise, promise:

F1 testing: What we learned from day two - Autosport Podcast

The latest edition of The Autosport Podcast cuts through the cold of Barcelona to decipher the stories behind the times at the Barcelona Formula 1 test

F1 testing: What we learned from day two - Autosport Podcast
Ferrari has some experience in these conditions - here's the 2012 car at Fiorano

Ferrari has some experience in these conditions - here's the 2012 car at Fiorano

Sauber snow facts #1 – Nick Heidfeld is the most successful Sauber driver in snowy conditions. Here he is at St Moritz in Switzerland in February 2007. Presumably the record holder for F1 podium finishes without a win found a way to finish second or third in this non-competitive event.

Sauber snow facts #1 – Nick Heidfeld is the most successful Sauber driver in snowy conditions. Here he is at St Moritz in Switzerland in February 2007. Presumably the record holder for F1 podium finishes without a win found a way to finish second or third in this non-competitive event.

Brace yourselves...

By: Geoff Creighton

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