De la Rosa fastest at Jerez

Both de la Rosa and teammate Gary Paffett continued working with the V10-powered McLaren, with the Spaniard, the busiest man on track with 94 laps, posting a best time of 1:18.850.

De la Rosa finished nearly three tenths of a second in front of Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

The Italian worked alongside teammate Ralf Schumacher as both continued with the development of the new TF106 car from the Japanese squad. Schumacher was involved in one of the few incidents of the day when his engine blew up at the exit of the Ferrari corner.

Nico Rosberg was the only other driver in action at Jerez, although the Williams racer did not complete a single timed lap. Instead, he concentrated on practising starts, coming back to the pits after completing the lap.

Rosberg caused the other red flag of the day, his car stopping at the Sito Pons corner.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.   de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:18.850   94  *
 2.   Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:19.037   68
 3.   Paffett       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:19.130   78  *
 4.   R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  1:21.279   24
 5.   Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  No time    39

* V10 engine

All Timing Unofficial