Hamilton leads second day of Ricard test

The McLaren driver beat morning pacesetter Felipe Massa by 0.141 seconds, having lapped in 1:05.614 this afternoon.

Robert Kubica was third for BMW, ahead of David Coulthard and Takuma Sato.

The teams continued their work on Monaco preparations using a tight and twisty configuration of the High Tech Test Track, working in particular on the super soft tyres that will be used for the first time this season in Monte Carlo.

Although yesterday's strong winds had made it difficult to draw firm conclusions, the consensus from the teams was that while the super soft compound was too soft for the abrasive Ricard track, it should prove effective around Monaco. Today's running was less affected by the wind, although the breeze picked up again during the afternoon.

Honda introduced a significant aerodynamic upgrade at the test, with a new front wing, rear wing and sidepods. Rubens Barrichello was sixth fastest, although his quickest time was set using the original specification car. He lapped 0.5 seconds slower with the new package.

"I tried the upgrades, it seems more stable," he told autosport.com. "It is better, I think, and I think we are doing reasonable times."

He added that a lack of track knowledge was affecting his performance.

"The thing is I don't know the track," Barrichello said. "Ferrari hardly ever tested here so I (last) ran here with Jordan in '92! It was wet too!

"So I have re-learn the track. I have raced here in (Formula) Opel Lotus but that doesn't count."

Triple Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais made another appearance for Toro Rosso, and set the 10th fastest time.

Testing continues for two more days, but the circuit configuration will now be altered so that the teams can try low downforce settings in preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix next month.

Wednesday's testing times:

Pos  Driver         Team                     Time      Laps
 1.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:05.614  133
 2.  Massa          Ferrari             (B)  1:05.755  107
 3.  Kubica         BMW-Sauber          (B)  1:06.185  140
 4.  Coulthard      Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:06.201  137
 5.  Sato           Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:06.281  116
 6.  Kovalainen     Renault             (B)  1:06.302  161
 7.  Barrichello    Honda               (B)  1:06.516  103
 8.  Wurz           Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:06.576  106
 9.  R. Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:06.598  111
10.  Bourdais       Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:07.743  142
11.  Albers         Spyker-Ferrari      (B)  1:07.946  66
12.  Sutil          Spyker-Ferrari      (B)  1:08.134  67

All timing unofficial