He's only a teenage rookie, so it would be wholly wrong to make up a cheap headline along the lines of 'Barcelona test no Spanish Stroll for Lance', so we won't... we tweeted it instead!

Today however, the youngster, who brought Williams programme to an early end yesterday after spinning off and damaging the car, went off again - twice.

While the first off – at just the moment the chequered flag was being waved to signal the lunch break - merely meant the loss of an hour's track time, the second not only brought about a red flag but once again caused the team to end its session early.

Be it a lack of experience or over enthusiasm, the youngster, who clouted the wall after spinning off at Turn 6, is costing the team valuable track time, and with tomorrow set aside for wet running there will be no more dry running until next week.

Ironically, the second off put the only dent in Mercedes programme, with Lewis Hamilton having to break off from his race simulation. However, once we were green the Briton carried on as though nothing had happened.

It was another strong day for Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas setting a blistering pace this morning, especially when he switched to the ultrasofts, while Hamilton's 95 laps this afternoon brought the day's tally up to 170. And all without the W08 missing a beat.

Other than the enforced extra-long pit stop in the middle of his race sim, it all went well for Hamilton, the Briton lapping consistently and at a strong pace. That said, the Ferrari appears to handle and stick to the black stuff better.

With 139 laps on the board, Ferrari also continued to impress, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel back on duty again today.

The German, posted a best time just 0.247s shy of Bottas' best, all the more impressive when you consider the Ferrari was only shod with softs not ultras.

The one tiny chink in the armour appeared to come in the final moments of the session when the SF70H stopped on the pit straight, necessitating the fourth red flag of the day. However, rather than a mechanical issue it is widely thought the Maranello car might have run out of fuel.

Whatever, the red car looks good, and in the eyes of many not only has the legs of the Mercedes but sticks to the track better.

It was another mixed day for Red Bull. While Daniel Ricciardo completed 48 laps this morning on his way to posting the second best time, this afternoon the Australian was sidelined by an exhaust-related issue that meant he only completed a further 22 laps.

Despite Jolyon Palmer being the cause of the first of the day's red flags - and only 27 minutes into the session - it was a good day for Renault, the French outfit splitting duties between the Briton this morning and Nico Hulkenberg this afternoon.

Finishing fourth and fifth on the timesheets, the pair also added a further 93 laps to the R.S.17's tally, with no major dramas.

A good day for Sauber also, where Marcus Ericsson was the second busiest driver, completing 126 laps.

Struggling financially - as ever - the team had a tough opening couple of days, especially the engine issue on Tuesday, but hopefully today's reliability has spurred the Hinwil outfit on to better things.

2016 saw its fair share of ups and downs for Haas, and that continued today, with Romain Grosjean only competing 56 laps.

On the other hand, the American outfit clearly has pace and providing the various reliability issues are addressed should be a leading light in the midfield battle.

Other than his offs, it hadn't been a bad day for Stroll, the youngster completing 98 laps in the FW40. However, at this vital point in the team's preparations, Williams cannot afford to lose any further track time.

Truth be told, only Fernando Alonso can tell you how things are progressing (or not) at McLaren and even then it is highly unlikely you'd be allowed to repeat any of what he told you.

On paper the MCL32 completed 72 laps today and finished 10th on the timesheets. But fact is too much of the day is either spent on single lap runs or in the garage.

While most are looking at the shortcomings of the Honda, others appear to feel that even if the Japanese unit were 100% reliable the MCL32 isn't capable of making the best use of it.

With an eye on tomorrow's wet day, Toro Rosso was another team that split driving duties today, Daniil Kvyat in action this morning and Carlos Sainz this afternoon.

Unfortunately both drivers suffered drivetrain issues which limited running, the Spaniard suffering the more serious problem causing him to stop out on track and thereby leading to a red flag period.

No offence, but we're still not sure why Alfonso Celis is getting a full day's running in the Force India.

Granted, he has to learn, but with only eight test days available - seven if you consider the wet day - surely the two race drivers, especially newcomer Esteban Ocon need as much time in the VJM10 as they can get.

All in all an interesting day and one which, not for the first time, posed a few more questions than it answered.

The Mercedes is quick and (thus far) bulletproof, but the Ferrari is also quick, seemingly kinder to its tyres and appears to stick to the track better.

While Red Bull has had issues, there is a consensus that the Renault in the back is not yet being run at its glorious best, so what does the Austrian team have up its sleeve?

And then there's a glorious midfield, which looks as though it could be the source of much entertainment this year.

Check out our Wednesday gallery from Barcelona, here.