Massa quickest at Barcelona

A total of 15 drivers took to the Spanish circuit, which welcomed the teams with a light rain that made the track damp early in the morning, delaying the start of proper work.

When the track dried up, it was Felipe Massa who set the pace with his Ferrari, the Brazilian the only man managing to lap the Spanish track in less than 75 seconds.

He worked alongside teammate Luca Badoer, who covered only 40 laps as he tested a new construction of Bridgestone tyres.

Massa finished just ahead of Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen who, like the majority of the drivers, focused of tyre testing for the Silverstone race next week.

Frenchman Olivier Panis showed promising pace in the old Toyota TF106, while his teammate Ricardo Zonta drove the B-spec machine which made its racing debut at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Panis, the busiest man with 123 laps, was fourth quickest, edging Briton Jenson Button in the first of the Honda cars. Both Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello had a busy day, covering more than 200 laps between the two.

There were four red flags during the session, not including the stoppage to hold a minute's silence for the late Edouard Michelin.

Button caused the first red flag when he went off at the chicane around lunch time. Kovalainen then caused another one by going off track at the first corner.

That was followed by another off from Jacques Villeneuve at turn three and a spin by Robert Doornbos at the fourth corner late in the afternoon..

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:14.924   99
 2.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:15.053   66
 3.  Kovalainen    Renault              (M)  1:15.264   90
 4.  Panis         Toyota               (B)  1:15.534  123
 5.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:15.535  102
 6.  Zonta         Toyota               (B)  1:15.541   91
 7.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:15.826   70
 8.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:15.876   40
 9.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:16.190  111
10.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:16.520   95
11.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:16.627   75
12.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:17.282   87
13.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:17.291   67
14.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:17.345   85
15.  Paffett       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:17.478   70

All Timing Unofficial