Wet conditions greeted the nine teams this morning in Valencia and it was not until later in the day that the circuit had dried sufficiently to allow a switch from intermediate to normal dry-weather grooved Bridgestone rubber.
Fernando Alonso set the pace in his McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 with a best lap of 1:12.538s, almost a full second clear of his old rival Kimi Raikkonen, who was having his first test in the new Ferrari F2007.
Over at Renault, running a rather vivid green rear rain light on the new R27, Nelson Piquet set the third fastest time with regular racer Giancarlo Fisichella a few tenths slower and seventh fastest overall.
Franck Montagny was on track in his Toyota, setting the fourth fastest time ahead of Toyota regular Jarno Trulli and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.
Rubens Barrichello was eighth fastest in the new Honda ahead of Sebastian Vettel who lost some time in the new F1.07 as his engine failed. Kazuki Nakajima was tenth fastest in the interim Williams Toyota, despite stopping on track with mechanical problems, while James Rossiter was 11th best in the interim Honda.
Takuma Sato conducted Super Aguri Honda's running today with Giedo van der Garde on hand but not running the interim RA106. Sato was 12th fastest.
Sporting a plain white unpainted crash helmet, Mark Webber went off track in the new Renault-powered RB3 while Luca Badoer who was one of many to find the conditions more than a little slippery as he went off track and into the gravel in the 248 F1 and ended the day slowest of the 14 runners.
Testing in Valencia continues on Wednesday and Thursday.
Valencia* - 30/01/2007
1 . F. Alonso - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:12.538 (+ 0.000 ) - 96 laps
2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2007 - 1:13.533 (+ 0.995 ) - 48 laps
3 . N. Piquet - Renault R27 - 1:13.550 (+ 1.012 ) - 31 laps
4 . F. Montagny - Toyota TF107 - 1:13.672 (+ 1.134 ) - 38 laps
5 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF107 - 1:13.722 (+ 1.184 ) - 54 laps
6 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:13.863 (+ 1.325 ) - 56 laps
7 . G. Fisichella - Renault R27 - 1:13.871 (+ 1.333 ) - 37 laps
8 . R. Barrichello - Honda RA107 - 1:14.018 (+ 1.480 ) - 35 laps
9 . S. Vettel - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:14.047 (+ 1.509 ) - 81 laps
10 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW28 B - 1:14.527 (+ 1.989 ) - 79 laps
11 . J. Rossiter - Honda RA106 - 1:14.638 (+ 2.100 ) - 43 laps
12 . T. Sato - Super Aguri Honda RA106 - 1:15.684 (+ 3.146 ) - 31 laps
13 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB3 - 1:15.729 (+ 3.191 ) - 32 laps
14 . L. Badoer - Ferrari 248 F1 - 1:16.388 (+ 3.850 ) - 48 laps
Source:
Racing-Live.com 