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Last year, F1 spent enormous amounts of time and money trying to make the circuit wet for tyre testing. It didn’t work very well. This year, there’s a genuinely wet track and nobody is going out. It’s ridiculous, there’s a set of circumstances here and there’s always something you can learn.

I know there are concerns about spares, but drivers don’t have to wring the neck of the car and you’ll always pick up something. You can play with the set-up, see what happens and as long as the driver is sensible and doesn’t push hard in the wrong place, you’ll get some work done. It’s better than going to Australia, racing in the wet and moaning about not knowing about the wet tyres!

Especially for smaller teams, if you have a bit more information for conditions like these, you're in a better position.

If I was here with Jordan, we’d be out there!

that's the perfect conditions for McLaren since the temperatures are damn low and the engine can work properly on the tight space

13:12 As the third day of pre-season testing enters its final hour, here's a quick recap of the day's events so far:

* The start of testing was delayed by three hours as snow blanketed the Barcelona circuit.
* When the green flags finally flew, nothing happened for another hour...
* Alonso was the first to brave the conditions and took great delight in McLaren topping the lap count charts.
* Ricciardo's Red Bull ensured Alonso's joy was short-lived by doing two laps, albeit one that included a trip through the gravel.
* Ericsson, Kubica and Hartley all eventually had a stab at an installation lap in the wet.
* Alonso eventually matched Ricciardo by completing a second lap for McLaren in the final hour.
* Gary Anderson got furious that no one made the most of the conditions to actually test anything.
* We all pray this day ends soon and tomorrow the Beast from the East will relent.

Logistics apparently rules Bahrain out (too long to get parts flown over mid-week).

It's just one of those things. This isn't usual weather for Europe at the start of March. I think the only tracks that are viable right now are Valencia (not much warmer), Jerez (16 Celsius and pissing with rain) and Portimao (16 Celsius and pissing with rain). Paul Ricard is currently 6 Celsius with a ferocious wind. Everywhere else is below zero.

Mercedes seems too good again