Alonso sets the pace at Valencia
World champion Fernando Alonso fired a warning shot at his rivals after setting the fastest time by nearly a second on the first day of testing at the Valencia circuit
Nine teams, most using their new cars, took part in today's first session, which was hampered by poor weather, although all drivers managed to work in the dry during part of the day.
Today was the first opportunity to see so many teams testing with their 2007 cars on the same track, and Alonso took the chance to boost his McLaren's team morale with a best time of 1:12.563 after 85 laps.
The Spanish driver was nearly a second quicker than the man he is replacing at McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen, who made his debut at the wheel of the new Ferrari F2007 and finished as fifth quickest.
Raikkonen worked alongside test driver Luca Badoer, who drove the old 248 F1 car. The Italian's day, however, was cut short after he suffered a mechanical problem around 3:00 pm.
It was not Badoer's only incident of the day, as the Ferrari driver also spun off the track when trying to avoid Alonso as the Spaniard overtook him down the inside.
Nelson Piquet Jr was second quickest in the first of the Renaults, the French squad running with their new livery for the first time. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella drove the second R27 and finished eighth fastest.
"It was pretty frustrating today, waiting for the track conditions to improve," said Fisichella at the end of the day.
"We basically lost a day's work but that can happen at this time of year. We still have three days left though, and I am sure we can make some good progress during the rest of the week."
Apart from the rain, the day was hit by a total of 10 red flags. The session was extended by 10 minutes because of Alonso stopping near the end of the session with smoke coming from the back of his McLaren.
Toyota's new test driver Franck Montagny showed promising pace in the new TF107 car after finishing as third fastest. His teammate Jarno Trulli was sixth, behind Raikkonen and the first of the BMW Saubers, driven by the team's third driver Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel's teammate Nick Heidfeld shook down the second F1.07 chassis.
Honda's Rubens Barrichello worked with the new RA107 car unveiled last week, but the Brazilian covered very limited mileage on his way to the ninth fastest time of the day. Briton James Rossiter took to the track in an interim car.
Williams tester Kazuki Nakajima had a troubled day in the interim Toyota-powered car, the Japanese driver causing three red flags, two due to mechanical problems and one when he went off track in the afternoon.
Mark Webber was the only Red Bull driver at Valencia today. The Australian completed just 27 laps at the wheel of the new RB3 and finished over three seconds off the pace.
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.563 85
2. Piquet Renault (B) 1:13.549 27
3. Montagny Toyota (B) 1:13.672 33
4. Vettel BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.683 75
5. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:13.691 45
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:13.735 50
7. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.848 49
8. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:13.867 34
9. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:14.025 29
10. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:14.520 51 *
11. Rossiter Honda (B) 1:14.643 37 *
12. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:15.674 27 *
13. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:15.726 27
14. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:16.334 35 *
* 2006/interim car All Timing Unofficial
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