Barcelona second F1 test day two
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As ever, these little runs round to the start line are fudging the lap counts a little bit. We'll give you a final tally in a moment.
We had a Sauber-Toro Rosso front row for one of those practice starts. Can't wait for that Spanish Grand Prix. It's about time the order got mixed up.
Several cars coming round for a practice start: Raikkonen, Sainz, Wehrlein, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Bottas.
Checkered flag
That's it for the morning session – doesn't look like we'll get any late improvements, and it's Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes who end up quickest with the fastest time in testing so far.
We're going to have a few members of the Over 50 club when we break for lunch shortly: Bottas, Massa, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Wehrlein – but, it seems, not Perez, who has just pit at the end of his 49th lap!
Perez has retaken sixth with that run on super-softs – it's a 1m21.297s from the Force India driver.
Bottas clocks a time in the high-1m23s. He got us all excited for nothing.
Raikkonen, on softs, can't improve. He's 0.008s slower. Meanwhile, Perez is back out on super-softs.
Ultra-soft tyres for Bottas. What's he got in him?
Late appearances from Bottas and Raikkonen. Last-gasp fliers before lunch? Five minutes to go.
Autosport
Overtaking is a huge topic ahead of the first race with these new aerodynamic rules. There are fears it will be more difficult to pass, but does that actually take us back to a type of racing (and overtaking) that people want? 
Caliente Chilli. Sainz finds the time he needs to take sixth from Perez – it's a 1m21.872s on softs from the Toro Rosso man.
Grosjean fancies a late go as well, so he's out in the Haas. Sainz has set a personal best in the first sector. Let's see if he can keep that going and move up from seventh. He only needs a tenth or so to displace Perez.
Hulkenberg's Renault keeps the fans (and those having to write live updates) entertained. © XPB
But not for long. Sainz is out for a skid in the Toro Rosso. Let's see what Chilli's got.
Perez is in the pits, leaving Hulkenberg with the track all to himself.
Perez slows down, then goes again – but he's half a second away from improving. He stays 2.7s off the pace, although he's been on the soft tyre. Looks like Force India's firmly part of that big midfield pack again.
Nope, a mistake in the middle sector or backing off or something has ruined that Perez lap, which is considerably off the pace. Hulkenberg's just gone two tenths slower than his own best, so the Renault driver's out there pushing.
Perez sets a personal best in the first sector, so let's see what the Force India's got in its locker.
Wehrlein, Perez and Hulkenberg on the circuit with 15 minutes to go. Can any of them improve before we call time on the first half of the day?
Wehrlein's ticked past 50 laps – only Bottas and Massa have completed more mileage this morning than the Sauber driver.
Wehrlein's ticked past 50 laps – only Bottas and Massa have completed more mileage this morning than the Sauber driver.
Autosport
The rapidly-approaching lunch break is also a good opportunity to read Dieter Rencken's weekly column, today looking at why Formula 1's bid to grow the calendar to 25 races is not without risk: 
Remember when the Haas was on track just now? Good times. © LAT
Pretty sure Toro Rosso and Haas just called in Sainz and Grosjean to make us look stupid.
A 50/50 split at the moment. Half the teams are keeping it quiet in the garage, half are logging more laps in the final 20 minutes.
Massa, Raikkonen, Sainz, Grosjean and Wehrlein are the men on track.
Massa, Raikkonen, Sainz, Grosjean and Wehrlein are the men on track.
Autosport
Lunchtime is approaching at the track, and that means it's almost time for another #F1lunchbreak debate where you can have your say. Our topic today - based on Massa's form this week - is the best F1 comebacks. Lauda? Prost? Mansell? Schumacher? You tell us!
Use #F1lunchbreak on Twitter and we'll turn the conversation over to you once the track action stops for lunch. (And yes, we are aware Massa isn't really making a 'comeback', as his retirement lasted 0 races. But why let that fact get in the way of a fun debate?!
Use #F1lunchbreak on Twitter and we'll turn the conversation over to you once the track action stops for lunch. (And yes, we are aware Massa isn't really making a 'comeback', as his retirement lasted 0 races. But why let that fact get in the way of a fun debate?!
A failure to find chunks of time when switching to super-soft/ultra-soft rubber was a bit of a theme last week. That's been put down to a combination of factors.
This new generation of tyre generally seems to be a bit harder across the compounds. There's also a struggle to get them into the optimum working temperature range because it's a bit cold. And as the two softest compounds are not designed to be used at this track performance can fall away.
Regarding that last point, we've often seen personal bests/outright bests in the first sector, but then the overall time not improve.
This new generation of tyre generally seems to be a bit harder across the compounds. There's also a struggle to get them into the optimum working temperature range because it's a bit cold. And as the two softest compounds are not designed to be used at this track performance can fall away.
Regarding that last point, we've often seen personal bests/outright bests in the first sector, but then the overall time not improve.
Raikkonen's made a minor gain, to a 1m20.406s.
A quick run (we walked) to the window reveals Bottas is out there on ultra-soft tyres. So in theory he should have improved on his 1m19.3s set on super-softs, but fell just short.
Blimey, Bottas is in the mood today. A 1m19.355s that time – with another fastest middle sector so far. Relentless performance from Mercedes.
It's been a quiet morning in general though, especially compared to yesterday. That could be down to the colder start, which has maybe made teams wait in order to get representative running in.
Bottas is our saviour on this occasion. There's half an hour left and Mercedes isn't happy to just leave its tally at 56 laps. Still work to be done...
Yes, that last post was designed with our Twitter feed in mind.
Any chance @ForceIndiaF1 can snap @OconEsteban with a 'people's champion' sign? Could be integral to our Live coverage this week.
You know what we need right now? A young French driver to get out there and get some laps in. Trouble is, his car's being driven by someone else (who has just come back into the pits and doesn't plan to hand the car over at all today). So we'll have to wait.
Raikkonen pits. That leaves nobody on the circuit. Obviously. That's how numbers work.
Perez pits. That leaves just Raikkonen on the circuit.
Two cars on track, not a lot to report. Raikkonen's pumped in a 1m21.1s after a cool-down lap, but that's all. Perez is in the low-1m22s, which is close to his best.
Everyone loves media centre window-cam, right?
Raikkonen moves himself up the order on a 1m20.472s on soft tyres.
Five Autosport Live points for the first person who creates a fake "Into The Pits" movie poster based on "Into The Woods".
By: Geoff Creighton
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