01/03/2016
NEWS STORY
Though Melbourne is around three weeks away, the chill in the air as the teams took to the track this morning at the Circuit de Catalunya made it feel like a lifetime away.
First out was Fernando Alonso, keen to make up for the disappointment of Friday when he only completed 3 laps, followed by Kevin Magnussen and Nico Rosberg.
Having been beaten to the honour of being first out, Rosberg was determined to post the first time of the day, subsequently crossing the line at 1:47.084.
Soon, everyone had made an appearance bar Gutierrez however, whatever issue arose on Rio Haryanto's installation lap was to prove costly. The Indonesian driver returned to the pits and soon the car was on its stands.
Over two hours later, Manor revealed that there was "a small oil leak in a difficult-to-get- to area". The driver finally made it back out one minute before the break, at which point Alonso ground to a halt at the end of the pitlane bringing out the first red flag of the week.
On a largely incident free morning - only two drivers tried the soft rubber, Alonso and Rosberg, Mercedes opting for something other than mediums for the first time since testing began.
Posting 23.022, just 0.212s shy of Sebastian Vettel's best, posted on ultrasofts last week, will certainly give the opposition something to talk about over lunch, especially as the German added another 82 to the W07's already impressive lap count.
Second quickest at the break is Kimi Raikkonen, his Ferrari running massive sensor devices at the front and rear of the car early on today, whilst the softs allowed Alonso to post the third best time of the morning.
Daniil Kvyat caused a bit of a stir when he returned to the pits with smoke pouring from the rear of his car, however, quick work by his crew soon brought was is believed to have been a brake fire under control.
As the temperatures climb this afternoon we will (hopefully) see more drivers switch to the softer compounds.
As was the last case last week, Mercedes is rotating its drivers, which means that Lewis Hamilton takes over from his teammate this afternoon.
Midday Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Tyres | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Rosberg | Mercedes | S | 82 | 1:23.022 | 125.425 mph |
| Raikkonen | Ferrari | M | 42 | 1:24.836 | 1.814 |
| Alonso | McLaren | S | 50 | 1:25.252 | 2.230 |
| Bottas | Williams | M | 58 | 1:25.255 | 2.233 |
| Verstappen | Toro Rosso | M | 59 | 1:25.356 | 2.334 |
| Hulkenberg | Force India | M | 50 | 1:25.954 | 2.932 |
| Kvyat | Red Bull | M | 22 | 1:26.227 | 3.205 |
| Gutierrez | Haas | M | 23 | 1:26.661 | 3.639 |
| Nasr | Sauber | M | 42 | 1:26.923 | 3.901 |
| Magnussen | Renault | M | 54 | 1:26.981 | 3.959 |
| Haryanto | Manor | M | 2 | No Time |
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