Hamilton sets pace at Paul Ricard

Hamilton was the only man to lap the French track in less than 66 seconds, posting a best time of 1:05.600 despite being the driver with the smallest number of laps completed.

The layout used today was the 3.593km 2D SC.

With all outfits focusing on their preparations for the Monaco Grand Prix, several new aerodynamic elements appeared today on some of the cars.

Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest, albeit over four tenths of a second slower than his McLaren rival. The Italian squad were working with their regular nose for most of the day, but Raikkonen tried the 'hole in the nose' concept for his final run.

Ferrari have said they will use the nose again in Monaco after it skipped the race in Turkey.

BMW's Robert Kubica was third quickest after 124 laps, with Red Bull's Mark Webber, the early pace-setter today, finishing down in fourth.

Sebastian Vettel finally got his first taste of Toro Rosso's new STR3 car following its troubled debut in Spain. The car, which featured a shark-fin engine cover, is scheduled to race in Monte Carlo after its introduction was delayed following a crash by Sebastien Bourdais in testing.

Vettel showed promising form with the new car, setting the first fastest time ahead of Nico Rosberg, whose Williams team also introduced a new shark-fin engine cover today.

Rosberg was the busiest man with 154 laps completed.

Alex Wurz returned to Formula One action following his LMS outing in Spa last weekend, carrying out testing duties for his Honda team, who tried a new version of their 'seagull' nose wing.

Toyota also introduced new aerodynamic updates - including a new rear wing - tested by Timo Glock.

Tonio Liuzzi was also back behind the wheel of a Formula One car for the first time in weeks, testing for the Force India team. He set the ninth quickest time, ahead of Renault's test driver Luca di Grassi.

Vettel and di Grassi caused the two red flags of the day, although Hamilton, Kubica and Glock also stopped at the end of the pitlane.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:05.600   84
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:06.089  103
 3.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:06.177  124
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:06.348   93
 5.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:06.372   91
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:06.571  154
 7.  Wurz          Honda                (B)  1:06.681  131
 8.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:06.935   93
 9.  Liuzzi        Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:07.346  106
10.  di Grassi     Renault              (B)  1:07.430  146


All Timing Unofficial