Barcelona F1 test two day two
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Vettel brings that Ferrari run to an end. Solid work, he's up to 43 laps for the day. Not the most impressive, but hardly in trouble.
Autosport
For those of you who saw our piece earlier in the week about how teams are pushing the limits to claim back performance lost in recent changes to the rules on exhaust-blown aero, here is the latest on what Renault is doing in that area: 
Stroll does. He's enjoying this soft-tyre run. It's a 1m21.369s and now he's less than two tenths behind Leclerc.
Leclerc with a personal best middle sector but the Formula 2 champion doesn't improve overall.
We knew Stroll would come good. He improves to a 1m21.668s, although that's still only the 10th-best time so far. Or 'slowest'.
Quickest man on track right now is Vettel, still pounding round on the medium tyre. His last lap was a 1m20.0s and that's half a second off his best so far.
Stroll is the only person doing anything interesting, and by that we mean he's set a personal best final sector. His lap is actually half a second slower.
A relatively rare sight: Mercedes using one of the softer tyre compounds.
Another quick weather update: you'll have spotted from our on-site pictures that it's nice and sunny, but in spite of that the early spring chill lingers in the air. Track temperature is up to 31.1C but the ambient is only creeping up slowly, to 11.4C.
Ricciardo's just moved onto his 50th lap of the morning as well.
Hamilton into the pits. He's got 50 laps to his name. He's not the only half-tonner though – Sainz is on 53.
Hamilton in the 1m19s at the moment on the supersofts, that's the best pace of anyone on track. Ricciardo's a few tenths back on ultras, Vettel in the high-1m20s on mediums.
Everyone on track except the stricken McLaren of Alonso and Hartley's Toro Rosso.
Stroll improves again, although he's still 0.487s away from the next-slowest runner, Leclerc.
Ricciardo into second! Much better second flying lap on the ultras. It's a 1m19.381s, which puts him less than half a second behind Hamilton.
Stroll sets another personal best, a 1m21.831s. Still 10th for now.
An image that could sum up many a recent F1 test: Mercedes at work, McLaren in limbo
Stroll much closer now, on a 1m22.087s.
Ricciardo improves in third on a 1m19.727s. Not a huge improvement on ultrasofts but let's see how long the run is.
Looks like supersoft tyres for Hamilton on this run. We think Vettel is running the unmarked mediums.
Stroll down to a 1m27.059s on soft tyres. He's still slowest and 8.1s off the pace.
Stroll, who is yet to set a competitive time, is unsurprisingly on a personal best lap.
Episode 174 of 'A McLaren is returned to the pits by truck during a pre-season F1 test'
Ricciardo heads out on ultrasoft Pirellis.
Vettel, Sainz and Stroll are the first to hit the track again after the stoppage.
Green flag
We'll find out soon. In the meantime, we're green again.
Doing our best Inspector Jacques Clouseau impression, we deduce that Alonso slowed in his McLaren, moved to the inside line where it deposited some fluids, then moved back across to the escape road to stop.
There's a clear sign of what looks like cement dust, which is usually what's used to clear up spillages, on the inside of the track running down to Turn 7.
The McLaren is on the back of the truck, and now it is moving away. They are taking it behind the barriers, rather than driving back round the circuit.
An all-too-familiar sight in F1 testing. It wasn't supposed to be this way in 2018. (Sutton Images)
We got a bit ahead of ourselves. The truck's still at Turn 7 – another vehicle has headed back down the track. It looks like marshals are applying a solution to the circuit to cover up some fluid. Did the McLaren spring a leak?
With a McLaren on board, the recovery vehicle is now making haste away from Turn 7.
Up to that point Alonso had completed 46 laps - the joint-most of anybody, level with Sainz, and two more than Mercedes. It had been a very productive innings.
Zak Brown has a media session scheduled in a little under 55 minutes. Timing!
A recovery crew is already in attendance. McLaren's positive morning has taken a rotten twist.
Alonso has pulled over on the escape road on the right-hand side before that left-hander.
"McLaren stopped at Turn 7", reports race control. That's the left-hander before the brief run uphill, in the middle of the middle sector.
Alonso has done a decent job of getting off the circuit, as this image shows, but not enough to prevent the session being stopped.
Alonso has parked his broken McLaren down an escape road. We can't quite work out where it is from the CCTV image, bear with us.
Red flag
OK, there's the red flag.
By: Geoff Creighton
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