Barcelona fourth pre-season test Test day four
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Vettel gets 'L5' on the Red Bull pitboard, which is counting him down.
Alguersuari improves to sixth place with a 1m22.865s.
Alonso goes out again, greeted by a cheer from the grandstands.
Another message from Japan, a country we're all thinking of this morning.
Tsuyoshi says: "Hey guys, thanks for the live coverage. I enjoy it every test, however I can't follow you today. The earthquake was massive. I could hardly stand even though my hometown is about 300 kilometres away from the epicentre. There are so many aftershocks following. Here comes one again... I have never felt like this before. Well, I have to go. Keep up the good work."
Tsuyoshi says: "Hey guys, thanks for the live coverage. I enjoy it every test, however I can't follow you today. The earthquake was massive. I could hardly stand even though my hometown is about 300 kilometres away from the epicentre. There are so many aftershocks following. Here comes one again... I have never felt like this before. Well, I have to go. Keep up the good work."
Button comes out in the McLaren.
An update on Barrichello's 'race': 10 laps on this stint, he started in 1m30.8s and is now doing 1m30.9s. There have been a few high 1m31s in the middle, but the consistency remains impressive.
Fernando Alonso
Ferrari is getting ready and Alonso comes slowly down the pitlane.
Alonso's latest run starts with two laps in mid 1m24s.
Alonso is on track now too.
Don't expect anything lightning from Schumacher this time, he does a slow constant speed run down the straight.
As Vettel and Alguersuari come in, STR's Franz Tost is pacing outside the pits wearing a woolly hat.
Here comes Schumacher again.
That was just a single lap run from Kobayashi. Barrichello is continuing in 1m30s in another consistent long stint, and Alguersuari followed his 1m23.3s with a 1m23.9s.
Some upbeat news from @MyTeamLotus: "Our new front wing has improved aero efficiency and given more forward aero balance to cope with developments on blown diffuser. More changes to come on front of car for Melbourne!"
Alguersuari jumps up to seventh with a 1m23.363s. That will please his fan club in the stands.
Kobayashi has just done a 1m22.579s on his first lap of this run, 0.2s off his earlier best of 1m22.3s.
Vettel is picking up speed, his last two laps were into 1m25s.
Vettel has recently started a run that has been into low 1m26s so far. He's onto lap three.
Quick reminder that Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug is joining us to answer your questions so keep them coming to live@autosport.com.
That was a one-lap run from Heidfeld, he now pits.
Heidfeld is up to second with a 1m22.073s, 0.8s behind Schumacher.
Barrichello just made a pitstop during what is looking very much like a race simulation.
On that last stint, his times only went up from 1m31.3s to 1m32.3s across 14 laps - that's one of the kindest tyre degradation rates we've seen.
He's now back out and has kicked off this run with a 1m30.864s.
On that last stint, his times only went up from 1m31.3s to 1m32.3s across 14 laps - that's one of the kindest tyre degradation rates we've seen.
He's now back out and has kicked off this run with a 1m30.864s.
Current slowest man D'Ambrosio also improves with a 1m27.570s.
Button sets his fastest time of the morning on his first lap out, a 1m25.848s. He is currently ninth.
Kamui Kobayashi
Kobayashi moves up to fifth with a 1m22.354s in the Sauber.
Mark, who is off work with a viral infection, emails live@autosport.com to say: "What do you think the current situation is with McLaren - have they brought any major updates to barcelona and do you think perhaps they are decieving everybody with not showing true pace as Hamilton set times in 1m22s the other day and now they seem to have backed off?"
AUTOSPORT's deputy F1 editor @m_glendenning gives his assessment: "It's a bit early to say much about how McLaren's situation has changed since Wednesday - remember, they didn't run yesterday - because as I write this, Jenson Button has only completed 22 laps since first heading out this morning.
"Pretty much all teams brought updates to Barcelona, and McLaren is no exception - the car has a new front and rear wing, revised bodywork and engine cover, new front wing endplates (which were daubed with aero paint this morning to check the airflow) and a new diffuser are among the more significant changes.
"As for the question of whether they are decieving everybody with their pace... as much as the team's fans might wish otherwise, the answer is no. McLaren's developmental prowess is such that the MP4-26 could evolve into a title contender during the season, but all the signs from the team are that they do not expect to be setting the pace in Melbourne."
AUTOSPORT's deputy F1 editor @m_glendenning gives his assessment: "It's a bit early to say much about how McLaren's situation has changed since Wednesday - remember, they didn't run yesterday - because as I write this, Jenson Button has only completed 22 laps since first heading out this morning.
"Pretty much all teams brought updates to Barcelona, and McLaren is no exception - the car has a new front and rear wing, revised bodywork and engine cover, new front wing endplates (which were daubed with aero paint this morning to check the airflow) and a new diffuser are among the more significant changes.
"As for the question of whether they are decieving everybody with their pace... as much as the team's fans might wish otherwise, the answer is no. McLaren's developmental prowess is such that the MP4-26 could evolve into a title contender during the season, but all the signs from the team are that they do not expect to be setting the pace in Melbourne."
Lap counts so far today: Schumacher 32, Alonso 44, Barrichello 48, Heidfeld 36, Vettel 13, Kovalainen 43, Kobayashi 32, Sutil 26, Alguersuari 16, Button 22, D'Ambrosio 25.
Top of the hour recap time: Schumacher fastest on 1m21.2s, 0.8s ahead of Alonso, then Barrichello, Heidfeld, Vettel, Kovalainen.
An improvement from Heidfeld on the first flying lap of this stint - he does a 1m22.341s but stays fourth.
Kovalainen heads back out.
Barrichello doesn't seem to be having any tyre drop-off at all on this stint. He came out of the pits with a 1m31.309s, 10 laps later he's done a 1m31.414s and the slowest he's been at any stage is a 1m32.0s.
Incidentally, although Schumacher's last 1m21.714s lap was off his earlier pace by half a second, it was still the second-fastest lap of all of 2011 Barcelona testing so far.
Heidfeld and Alguersuari come out.
An interesting onlooker in the pits: former Minardi technical director Gabriele Tredozi.
Barrichello is now the only man on track.
Michael Schumacher
That was another single-lap run from Schumacher.
Barrichello's times continue to hold up in consistent mid 1m31s.
Temperatures are going down at Barcelona - now 18.3 degrees on track and 11.5 air.
Schumacher is back out and does a 1m21.7s on his first lap, half a second off his earlier pace
By: Matt Beer, Jonathan Noble, Mark Glendenning, Pablo Elizalde
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