Alonso tops testing on Renault return

The Spaniard was having the first experience of last year's R27 and, after spending the early part of the day finding the limits of the car, he set his best lap of 1:19.503 late in the afternoon as he did two quick runs.

Alonso's best effort was just more than one tenth ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa in the new McLaren MP4-23, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen just five hundredths further adrift in the F2008.

Williams' Nico Rosberg continued to show some impressive speed in the interim FW29, setting the fourth fastest time, just ahead of Felipe Massa and Heikki Kovalainen.

Scuderia Toro Rosso duo Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais were seventh and eighth quickest, with Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber ninth fastest ahead of the launch of his new RB4 tomorrow.

Timo Glock got his first run in the new Toyota, finishing the day 11th overall, while the team's test driver Kamui Kobayashi used a hybrid 2007 car featuring the 2008 electronics and gearbox. The Japanese driver lost time in the morning with an exhaust issue, before rejoining for the afternoon.

Super Aguri's James Rossiter had to sit out the day following delays in the arrival of new parts to overcome the overheating problems that marred their first day.

There were three red flags during the day. De la Rosa went off in a huge cloud of smoke at 9.02am, while Williams' Kazuki Nakajima ran off the track at 12.30pm.

The final stoppage came just two minutes before the scheduled end of the day when Bourdais stopped on track.

Today's testing times:

Pos  Driver      Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso      Renault              (B)  1:19.503   70
 2.  De la Rosa  McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:19.650  111*
 3.  Raikkonen   Ferrari              (B)  1:19.708   90*
 4.  Rosberg     Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:19.756   81
 5.  Massa       Ferrari              (B)  1:19.772   85*
 6.  Kovalainen  McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:19.780  130*
 7.  Vettel      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:20.305   86
 8.  Bourdais    Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:20.346   76
 9.  Webber      Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:20.392   80
10.  Nakajima    Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:20.526   66
11.  Glock       Toyota               (B)  1:20.598  109*
12.  Fisichella  Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:20.764   76
13.  Kobayashi   Toyota               (B)  1:22.060   55

* 2008 car

All timing unofficial