De la Rosa still on top at Jerez - day 2

The McLaren test driver, quickest also on the first day of work at the Spanish circuit, set a best time of 1:17.785 to finish again on top of the times.

De la Rosa, working alongside teammate Gary Paffett on French GP tyre selection, was also the busiest man on track after completing 116 laps.

World champion Fernando Alonso joined his Renault team today for his only day of testing work ahead of the French Grand Prix next week.

The championship leader, the last man to jump onto the track after waiting nearly until noon, tested for the first time the new evolution of the Renault engine, the same one used by teammate Giancarlo Fisichella at the United States Grand Prix.

Alonso was third quickest, finishing behind Renault's test driver Heikki Kovalainen.

Anthony Davidson set the fourth fastest time in his Honda, the Briton being joined today by teammate Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian, 10th fastest, caused two red flags during the day, the first one when he spun off and the second one when his car stopped late in the afternoon with a suspected engine problem. 

Davidson, working on tyre testing for Germany, caused the first red flag of the day around 11am when his car stopped on track.

The other red flag of the session was triggered by Red Bull's third driver Robert Doornbos, who stopped with an engine problem around 3:30 pm.

The BMW-Sauber team caught the attention of their rivals today thanks to the debut of a new aerodynamic appendage, a fin attached to either side of the monococque. The fin was only attached to the car of Robert Kubica, sixth quickest today.

The Pole driver was joined by F3 Euroseries front-runner Sebastian Vettel, who returned to the wheel of a Formula One car after making his debut with Williams last year. The German covered 82 laps and finished at the bottom of the times.

"This was obviously a special opportunity for me, but I just tried to take it easy and concentrate on my job," said Vettel. "The whole day went really well. I was able to complete many laps without any problems. I learned a lot, particularly on tyres.

"That's a very complex issue in Formula One, because they change a lot over a run and one has to adapt the driving style. It's clear that I cannot exploit the whole potential of the car yet, but that seems to be a matter of time. I'm happy with the day."

Toyota worked with test drivers Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis, who focussed mainly on tyre work for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

"Today was spent working on tyres," said Zonta. "In the morning I felt that my car was having problems with grip and as if the car was sliding a lot. The afternoon went much better and the grip improved. We also did some aerodynamic testing and completed some launches.

"I am feeling more comfortable in the car and the development is continuously improving."

Williams' Alexander Wurz was the only man in action for the British squad, the Austrian also carrying out tyre work for France.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver       Team                   Time     Laps
 1.  de la Rosa   McLaren-Mercedes  (M)  1:17.785  116
 2.  Kovalainen   Renault           (M)  1:18.050  115
 3.  Alonso       Renault           (M)  1:18.120   97
 4.  Davidson     Honda             (M)  1:18.223  110
 5.  Wurz         Williams-Cosworth (B)  1:18.539  103
 6.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber        (M)  1:18.608   67
 7.  Zonta        Toyota            (B)  1:18.793   99
 8.  Paffett      McLaren-Mercedes  (M)  1:18.892   88
 9.  Panis        Toyota            (B)  1:19.059   85
10.  Barrichello  Honda             (M)  1:19.386   96
11.  Doornbos     Red Bull-Ferrari  (M)  1:19.592   32
12.  Vettel       BMW-Sauber        (M)  1:19.594   82

All Timing Unofficial