Alonso sets only time of washed-out third test day

Fernando Alonso was the only driver to post a time during the third day of Formula 1 testing at Barcelona, which was affected by snow and heavy rain.

Brendon Hartley, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13

FIA trucks in the Paddock as snow stops testing

Medical Helicopter as snow stops testing

Only five cars ventured out at all during the day, with Alonso completing the most laps with 11.

The start of the session was delayed by three hours due to heavy snowfall overnight, which continued through the morning.

While the track opened at midday, it was more than an hour before the first car appeared, with Alonso completing one lap.

Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull was next to head out, and he reappeared shortly after for a second lap, which included a trip through the gravel.

Marcus Ericsson, Robert Kubica and Brendon Hartley were the only other drivers to appear, while towards the end of the day Alonso carried out "tests and checks" for McLaren with a series of one-lap appearances on track.

In the final 15 minutes of running Alonso finally stayed out for more than one lap, setting a 2m21.268s on full wets before returning to the pits.

He returned to the track in the final couple of minutes, crossing the line just after the chequered flag flew to improve his time to 2m18.545s.

It is the first time McLaren tops a pre-season test since 2014 at Jerez and the first time it tops one since 2015 in Abu Dhabi.

Teams have five days of testing remaining ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, with one more day this week and another four day test next week – when better weather is expected.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	F. Alonso	McLaren	2:18.545	11
-	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull	-	2
-	B. Hartley	Toro Rosso	-	2
-	M. Ericsson	Sauber	-	1
-	R. Kubica	Williams	-	1
-	R. Grosjean	Haas	-	0
-	L. Hamilton	Mercedes	-	0
-	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	-	0
-	S. Perez	Force India	-	0
-	N. Hulkenberg	Renault	-	0
-	L. Stroll	Williams	-	0