Alpine’s running at the first Formula 1 pre-season test ended on the final morning due to a fire in Fernando Alonso’s car at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Alonso coasted to a halt at Turn 13 in the first hour of the day, with smoke emerging from the rear and then the airbox. Fire extinguishers were required before the car could be recovered.  Once the car was back in the garage the team was able to inspect the garage and deemed it would not be in a position to run again having completed just 12 laps.

“After further investigations in the garage following Fernando Alonso’s on-track stoppage earlier this morning, the team can confirm the issue was a problem with the hydraulics,” a statement from the team explained. “A minor sealing issue led to a fire in the back of the car.

“The team has successfully completed 266 laps during the three days of the Barcelona shakedown. Repairs on the car will continue, and as a result we won’t be running for the remainder of the day. We look forward to be back in action at the next test in Bahrain.”

The stoppage was one of five interruptions on the final morning, with Pierre Gasly crashing at Turn 15, Sebastian Vettel suffering a suspected electrical issue, and Guanyu Zhou twice stopping in the Alfa Romeo.