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The Spaniard's 'fastest' time of two minutes
18.545 seconds, set right at the end, was nearly a minute slower
than Sebastian Vettel's Tuesday best for Ferrari.
Neither Ferrari nor Mercedes sent a car out of the garage, with
the Italians deciding early on that there was no point.
"Today, it felt more like being in Finland than Spain," said
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. "And everyone knows there’s no Formula
One in my country."
Apart from Alonso, who ended up with 11 laps, the only drivers
to appear were Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso's Brendon
Hartley, Sauber's Marcus Ericsson and Robert Kubica for
Williams.
With the grandstands empty for most of a day that started with
the paddock and circuit under a white blanket, the pit lane was
declared open at 1200 local time - a delay of three hours -- as
snow gave way to rain.
The chequered flag came down with a total of 17 laps recorded.
"You don't learn anything. We will never race in this
circumstance, and the only thing you do is risk the car,"
commented Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.
"This being the first test of the season, we are lean on spares,
and we cannot risk it. And at the moment it does not look much
better on Thursday. It is getting warmer but still wet."
The first of two pre-season tests is due to end on Thursday,
with the second at the Circuit de Catalunya next week. The
season starts in Australia on March 25.
Teams had discussed adding a day on to the second test but that
would only have been possible by all agreeing to scrap
Wednesday's session.
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said two teams had
objected, a move he said was "purely wasting money for selfish
interests".
Williams have a private filming day scheduled at the circuit for
this Friday.
The lack of testing was a blow to Mexican Sergio Perez, who had
been due in the Force India on Wednesday and has yet to drive
his team's new car.
Four-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who completed 25 laps
for Mercedes in cold and damp conditions on Monday, was another
lacking mileage - which at least allowed Valtteri Bottas to feel
ahead of his team mate.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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