Hamilton goes quickest at Paul Ricard
Lewis Hamilton kicked off his preparations for the Monaco Grand Prix, which he has set his sights on winning, in perfect style on Tuesday when he topped pre-event testing at Paul Ricard in France
With teams utilizing the short and tight 2D SC course, that simulates the requirements of the Monte Carlo circuit, Hamilton proved how well sorted McLaren are by setting a time almost 1.3 seconds faster than his nearest rival.
And it was not Ferrari challenging him this time, with Spanish Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa down in sixth place in the standings. Instead, Ralf Schumacher continued to show improved form for Toyota to set the second quickest time on the windy day.
Nelson Piquet Jr continued Renault's evaluations with the third quickest time, while Mark Webber put more valuable mileage on Red Bull Racing's seamless shift gearbox to set the fourth best time.
Nico Rosberg was fifth for Williams, with Christian Klien right behind Massa in seventh spot.
Timo Glock filled in for BMW-Sauber's race drivers in eighth spot, working mainly on set-up for the Monte Carlo race, also testing some new mechanical components that BMW said gave promising results.
Super Aguri's test driver James Rossiter got his first outing with the team down in ninth.
Scott Speed was 10th fastest for Scuderia Toro Rosso, with Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy the slowest man in 11th spot.
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:05.699 98 2. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:06.920 96 3. Piquet Renault (B) 1:07.056 125 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:07.161 120 5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:07.189 126 6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:07.271 93 7. Klien Honda (B) 1:07.357 114 8. Glock BMW Sauber (B) 1:07.712 114 9. Rossiter Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:08.026 129 10. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:08.143 53 11. Fauzy Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:09.443 73 All Timing Unofficial
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