Hamilton fastest at Jerez

The McLaren rookie, settling into his second full test as an official race driver, outpaced Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella by more than one second - which suggests he was focusing on low-fuel, new tyre runs rather than consistent race pace.

However, Hamilton's day ended early, as he ran off the track, slightly damaging his car. The machine will be ready, though, for tomorrow's session.

Renault's Fisichella continued to get acquainted with the Bridgestone tyres. "I had a better second day, and I am beginning to find my feet with these new tyres," the Italian said.

"I am feeling more confident with the car, and I made good progress with the car in spite of some delay this morning owing to poor track conditions.

"The tyres are harder than what we have been used to, which means the grip is not so good. But I was expecting that, so it is not a surprise, and things are going well during this first session back in the car."

Rubens Barrichello was third quickest, leading the efforts for Honda Racing with teammate Jenson Button still unable to run because of the rib injury he picked up in a recent karting accident.

Honda's test driver Christian Klien, who was seventh quickest, caused the first red flag of the day when his RA106 stopped with mechanical problems shortly after 10:00am.

Nico Rosberg continued to get adjusted to Bridgestone's new 2007 rubber to set the fourth fastest time for Williams, while Ralf Schumacher was fifth overall for Toyota.

Felipe Massa was only sixth quickest, but his Ferrari team were surrounded by huge interest at the test as Kimi Raikkonen made a surprise appearance.

The Finn joined in the morning's technical meeting and then spent some time chatting to his future teammate.

Ninth fastest Nick Heidfeld, who was just slower than McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa, stopped on track just after 11:00am with a suspected electrical problem. His teammate Robert Kubica, who was 11th overall, also stopped just after lunch with a mechanical failure.

The only other incidents were at 11:00am, when Scott Speed spun off the track, and at 12:10pm, when Kamui Kobayashi stopped his Toyota on circuit with a transmission failure.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:18.684   78
 2.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  1:19.685   63
 3.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  1:19.784  111
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:19.962  105
 5.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  1:20.024   70
 6.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:20.046   60
 7.  Klien         Honda                (B)  1:20.055   99
 8.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:20.141   64
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:20.167   97
10.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  1:20.204   78
11.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:20.461   88
12.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:20.556  107
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Ferrari     (B)  1:20.596   89
14.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  1:20.701  112
15.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (B)  1:21.134   59
16.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (B)  1:21.276   78
17.  Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:21.292   53

All timing unofficial