De la Rosa in action at Paul Ricard

Poor weather, however, hindered McLaren's progress and the team spent the morning deciding whether to run or not given the poor conditions. Rain stopped around 11am and the team decided to take to the track, but only with de la Rosa.

Teammate Gary Paffett was also present at the French track but the Briton did not drive.

De la Rosa worked with the MP4-21, driving around the 4.1 km 2E configuration of the track, which was damp all day. 

The Spaniard covered a total of 155 laps, posting a best time of 1:17.737, as he worked with a revised Mercedes engine.

"We need just mileage, mileage, mileage, and that's is all," de la Rosa told autosport.com. "I am here for four days and will do as much mileage as I can. I arrived from Kuala Lumpur yesterday at Barcelona and I drove here and I feel great.

"I have slept well and we did the neccesay mileage today and we will continue with that.

"(The new engine) has a bit more power and the drivability is better, but the important thing now is to do some distance."

The Renault, Toyota and BMW teams are expected to join the Paul Ricard test tomorrow.