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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test two day three

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Worth noting that McLaren is the sole team not to have reached 100 laps for the day yet, although Vandoorne isn't far off reaching that target, having now done 94 tours.
Sainz on the move again - a 1m19.621s hoists him up to a lofty eighth place.
Sainz now moves clear of Hamilton on a 1m19.882s - which puts him close to Verstappen's best time from the morning, which was likewise set on softs.
Edd Straw
Vandoorne follows the Sauber through the chicane and has to pile on the opposite lock at the exit to keep the car under control.
Sainz has switched to softs for this latest run, by the way.
Egads! An improvement! Sainz logs a 1m19.964s, putting him within a whisker of Hamilton.
Here's a shot of the new Renault front wing we've mentioned a few times today, snapped by GIORGIO PIOLA

Here's a shot of the new Renault front wing we've mentioned a few times today, snapped by GIORGIO PIOLA

Edd Straw
Vandoorne just had a slight moment in the middle of the chicane, with the rear end continuing to slide when he was trying to get it turned for the right-hand exit. 
Pitstop practice down at Force India a little while ago

Pitstop practice down at Force India a little while ago

Information
Lap count update:

Vettel 151
Magnussen 141
Verstappen 139
Gasly 134
Perez 119
Ericsson 105
Bottas 97
Vandoorne 84
Hulkenberg 79
Kubica 73
Hamilton 50
Stroll 30
Sainz 30
Track getting quieter now, with only Magnussen, Vandoorne and Ericsson out. The latter is the latest member of the '100' club, which Perez also joined some time ago.
Vettel looks to have completed that race sim, 151 laps in the books for the Ferrari man. Teams-wise, the nearest challenger is Mercedes, which is on 145 and counting.
Edd Straw
For a few laps, Vandoorne looked to be suffering from some rear end instability when hard on the brakes into the chicane. He's dialled it back fractionally now and the car is more under control for the turn-in phase.

Vettel is almost at 150 laps for the day, while Verstappen, Gasly and Magnussen are all north of 130 now.
Edd Straw
The Force India is looking good through the chicane. The team's objective for testing was to ensure it had a very good mechanical platform then bolt on a big upgrade for Melbourne, and it's definitely got a good baseline to work from. 
Edd Straw
Hamilton was stuck behind Sirotkin going into the chicane that time round and had a big slide in the middle of the left/right flick.
Hamilton edges into the 1m19s with a new personal best of 1m19.945s.
Edd Straw

Hamilton is rotating the rear of the Mercedes beautifully on entry to the chicane. Looks like the car is giving him the confidence to ask it to do exactly what he wants.

And Sainz does exactly the same.
Gasly rolls around the 'old' F1 track configuration and cuts out the chicane on his way to returning to the pits.
Edd Straw
Big lockup for Verstappen into the chicane, he makes it into the corner but the rear steps round on him - not quite a half spin, more a quarter spin! Had to get right out of the throttle.
Our suspicions are confirmed - Magnussen gets that time deleted for cutting the chicane. But he remains second on the strength of his morning time.
Magnussen just logged a 1m18s a moment ago, with an outright best final sector, but next time around he posted a 1m22s. He's on mediums - which do look annoyingly similar to hypersofts - but we can be fairly safe in assuming he cut the chicane that time round. Not that it was a personal best anyway...
Sainz hits back in this titanic scrap for 12th in the timesheets, going 0.042s quicker than Stroll. The Renault man is still using mediums.
Edd Straw
The Williams just slowed dramatically on the run between 9 and 10 with what sounded like a lack of drive. Seemed to get going again though.
Verstappen during what looks like a live pitstop for Red Bull (LAT)

Verstappen during what looks like a live pitstop for Red Bull (LAT)

Stroll quicker again with a 1m20.276s - 0.001s faster than Sainz. You couldn't make this stuff up.
Red Bull remains the only team not to have used any of the more exotic tyre compounds all day. Verstappen is currently lapping in the 1m21s on mediums.
Stroll delivers our first improvement in a little while, a 1m20.400s, but he stays 13th.
Edd Straw
Vettel is increasingly struggling for grip on this set of tyres.
Stuart Codling
"Tea tray on the Ferrari is grounding", which suggests Vettel's Ferrari is fat with fuel and attempting a long run or race simulation.

By: Geoff Creighton

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