Fernando Alonso was the only man to set a lap time as Day 3 of the first Formula 1 test was washed out by snow and rain.

A winter wonderland greeted the teams in Barcelona on Wednesday as heavy snow fell overnight and for much of the morning meaning the start was delayed by four hours.

Even when the track did go green, however, the snow had simply turned to rain leaving the circuit sodden throughout the day.

As a result, only five cars ventured out at all, all day with three just doing basic installation laps. Daniel Ricciardo did attempt a timed lap only to end up in the gravel before returning to the safe sanctuary of the garage.

Local hero Alonso was not to be deterred though, managing 11 laps and completing a 2:18.545s, almost a minute off the best time seen over the previous two days.

Despite suggestions of extending the test to Friday, those teams that had arranged filming days were not willing to give them up.

Therefore, a full day of running has been lost in what was already a very short amount of on-track action before the teams head to Australia for the first Grand Prix.