25/02/2016
NEWS STORY
Kimi Raikkonen sets the pace on final morning as water pressure issue side-lines Fernando Alonso.
Having missed most of yesterday morning's running, Raikkonen was quick out of the box this morning, eager to make up for lost time.
Around an hour before the lunch break, running on the ultra-soft compound, the Finn posted 23.477, around a second quicker than his best on the softs.
Kevin Magnussen is second, the Dane seemingly enjoying less problems than his British teammate.
Another good morning for Toro Rosso, where Max Verstappen completed 75 laps, third quickest overall but quickest of the medium runners.
A productive morning for Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Nasr also, whilst Lewis Hamilton put everyone to shame with his workload, the Briton completing 99 laps.
The clockwork reliability of the W07 now beginning to tire, Mercedes opted to stir things up with the introduction of its much anticipated new nose and front wing which the team nicknamed 'Bruce' after the shark in the original Jaws movie.
However, it was a disaster movie as far as Fernando Alonso and McLaren were concerned, the Spaniard completing just three laps before it was clear there was a problem.
The car up on its stand for what had already seemed an eternity, Honda (not McLaren) took to Twitter to reveal: "@Alo_Oficial will be back behind the wheel of the #MP431 later today". With confirming the cause of the problem it is understood to b e water pressure related.
Other than the hapless Spaniard, who, no doubt, really would like to be anywhere else, it's been a trouble-free morning.
Nico Rosberg takes over from Hamilton this afternoon, when the German should put another 100 or so laps on the clock.
Check out our Thursday gallery, here.