Andrea Kimi Antonelli replaced Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate George Russell at the top of the timesheets as F1 concluded the third day of five at the Barcelona private test.
After Russell set the fastest time of the test so far on Wednesday morning, Antonelli was almost exactly two tenths quicker after taking over the W17 in the afternoon.
Russell, who Mercedes said conducted the majority of his morning running on the hard C1 tyre, said of his experience: "The track temperature was in the low single-digits this morning, one of the coldest circuits I’ve ever driven on, so there’s little-to-nothing you can read into the times."
Mercedes will still be able to run another day - either Thursday or Friday - but has already ticked well over the 300-lap mark in the shakedown, as both Antonelli and Russell logged over 90 laps on the day.
Its customer, reigning champion team McLaren, had a credible first outing with the new, test-liveried MCL40, to the tune of over 70 laps and the third-fastest time of the day.
Drivers' champion Lando Norris had the car at his disposal and lapped within a second of Antonelli, while team-mates Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly completed an all-Mercedes-powered top five on a reasonably productive day for Alpine, as the pair combined for 100-plus laps in total.
Of the cars with non-Mercedes power units in them, the Ferrari-powered Haas was the fastest through Ollie Bearman, but after its early stoppage its day amounted to just over 40 laps - less than a third of what it'd managed on Monday - before another, more "serious" issue parked the VF-26 for good.
Red flags were also caused by Audi - very early in the day - and Racing Bulls.
The latter team comfortably cleared 100 laps in the end with Arvid Lindblad, while Audi finally got some respectable mileage on the board with around 70 for Nico Hulkenberg - after its running had been cut short on Monday.
Ferrari and Red Bull did not run after taking to the track on Tuesday (with Red Bull's Tuesday having ended in a crash for Isack Hadjar).
Aston Martin had earmarked Thursday for its first appearance, while Williams is missing the test.
Day three times
1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m17.362s, 91 laps
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.218s, 92 laps
3 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.945s, 76 laps
4 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.788s, 58 laps
5 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.935s, 67 laps
6 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.952s, 42 laps
7 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +2.058s, 120 laps
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +3.648s, 68 laps
