Patronise F1

Another day, another damp track, and another change of face at the top of the leaderboard, with Rubens Barrichello ending the second day of the third pre-season test on top for Williams when another late rain shower left him home and dry at the top.

The day's running was again hampered by the weather, with the teams finding no chance of completely dry track running as the rain came and went throughout the day, with the track becoming so treacherous at one point mid-morning as to necessitate a session stoppage. Adding to the problem, high winds swirled around the track to further hinder the drivers.

Nevertheless, a number of teams still put together attempts at full programmes, with Barrichello again one of the more active drivers, setting the quickest time of the day just after 1pm at the track. Despite plenty of cars lapping later in the afternoon, a fresh dousing of rain and a switch to concentrating on longer runs meant that the Brazilian's time was never challenged.

Vitaly Petrov gave the Renault team a boost with the second fastest time, after spending the first three hours of the day's running in the pits, one of the few drivers to manage an improvement in the afternoon. He ended clear of Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull RB6, with the German and his new car again impressing on the longer runs, managing a 25 lap stint in the morning at a consistently quick pace.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes W01 managed to nip ahead of Felipe Massa's Ferrari in the closing stages, after another mixed day for the German team was finished off with a quick stint towards the end. Massa suffered a minor technical issue in the morning but otherwise ran well again.

Evidence of exactly how little decent running there was came from Pedro de la Rosa's 6th place, managing to stay well placed on the leaderboard despite only completing eight laps all day, the Spaniard setting his best time after just 28 minutes of running.

Paul di Resta ended his second half-day with Force India in 7th place, getting through his runs without a spin this time, while Timo Glock starred for the new Virgin Racing team, finishing 8th and under three seconds off the pace after running a solid full day of lappery.

The German did slightly marr his performance with a spin in the morning at the Michelin corner, which precipitated one of the day's many red flags, but overall the new F1 team will be happy with their progress, even if the track conditions may well have masked their true performance level somewhat.

Lewis Hamilton had a very quiet day indeed and ended the day behind Glock in 10th place in his McLaren, while Sebastien Buemi was similarly quiet for Toro Rosso and ended 11th.

The Lotus team had another busy day, with Heikki Kovalainen getting his first taste of the team's new car. The Finn benefitted from power steering after the car had run without yesterday, though it didn't seem to do him much good late in the morning, when he spun at turn three and became the first car all pre-season to make significant contact with the tyre barriers.

The Lotus's front wing was knocked off, and the team were forced to abandon the day's testing after revealing that they didn't yet have any spares for the wing. Later on, technical director Mike Gascoyne revealed that the car would also undergo a precautionary engine change before Friday's running.

The teams will reconvene tomorrow, with some cautious good news on the weather front. The clouds and rain are expected to clear tomorrow morning with the rest of the test period set for drier conditions.