Barcelona test - day one: November 28.

Ferrari number two driver, Felipe Massa was quickest at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona on Tuesday, as F1 winter testing got underway, with sixteen drivers' on track - and all but two of the eleven teams.

Massa's best was a 1 minute 17.160 seconds, just three hundredths up on Pedro de la Rosa, who was next up for McLaren-Mercedes. Massa notched up 52 laps in total, while focusing on endurance runs, evaluating new components and working on set-up with the 248 F1. Luca Badoer was also on track for the Scuderia, third on the 'leader-board', his best was a 1m 17.555s.

de la Rosa meanwhile managed just under 70 laps, while 2006 GP2 champion, Lewis Hamilton was sixth, eighth tenths slower in the sister car. Hamilton's day though, his first since having been confirmed as the second race driver at the Woking-based team, was slightly disrupted this morning after he stopped out on the track with what the team described as a 'minor engine mapping issue'. He was able to resume running though as soon his car was returned to the garage.

"Both drivers were working on the initial evaluation of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres and their affect on the balance of the car [since we used Michelin tyres in 2006]," added a statement from McLaren. "In addition front wing, rear wing and floor packages were also assessed."

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Honda's Rubens Barrichello completed the top five, the latter just three tenths up on Hamilton. Heidfeld managed 62 laps in total in the F1.06B, while his team-mate, Robert Kubica, did only 46 laps and was around a tenth slower. Kubica did not run much this morning as he was mainly focusing on tyres and as conditions were very cold, it was pointless to send him out. Like McLaren, and the other ex-Michelin runners, their focus was very much on getting to grips with the Bridgestone tyres.

"This was the first time the team had tested the new Bridgestone tyres, so an important part of this test is to work on adjusting the set-up of the car to these," read a statement from BMW Sauber. "Nick was [also] working on a new transmission and was the first of the two drivers to go out on the track in the morning. Robert was testing new parts for the 2007 car."

Further down the order, James Rossiter was seventh, in the second Honda car, with Alex Wurz next up in the Toyota-powered Williams.

Nelson Piquet Jr lead the way for Renault, who were down in tenth and twelfth on the timesheets - Heikki Kovalainen, two tenths slower than the team's new test driver. Both however managed lots of laps, between them breaking the 185 marker, while trying to learn as much as possible about the Bridgestone tyres and complete reliability running on new components to be used for 2007.

"This was a good first day back at work for the team and the drivers," maintained Renault's chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "We primarily focused on learning about the new Bridgestone tyres, going about the work in our usual methodical way without worrying about topping the timesheets. It is always important to learn and understand how we need to work with a new partner. We began that process today at the track, and will continue to develop our partnership throughout this week of testing."

"This was my first day of F1 testing at Barcelona, and I completed my programme without any problems and did a lot of laps," added Piquet Jr. "I am quite pleased with this first day because my aim was simply to run as much as possible to continue learning about the car."

Anthony Davidson was the sole driver on track for Super Aguri, the Brit getting his first taste of things at the Langley-based outfit. Davidson did 90 odd laps, while running in the interim SA06. His programme comprised an initial evaluation of the 2007 Bridgestone tyres, whilst also running through a series of set-up changes and familiarising himself with working with his new team.

The only other runners on track were those entered and backed by Red Bull, with 'B' team drivers, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed both outpacing the two 'A' team members, in their Toro Rosso cars. Mark Webber and David Coulthard both had to settle for a time in the mid-1m 19s bracket, the latter around two-three tenths slower than his new team-mate.

"It was good to be driving again and nice to see so many familiar faces in the team," commented Webber, who drove for the Milton-Keynes-based squad, in their pre-RBR days, when they wore Jaguar kit.

Testing now continues on Wednesday, when Toyota is due to join the fold, running two TF106B's for Olivier Panis and Kamui Kobayashi.

Leading times (November 28) - Catalunya:

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 17.160secs 52 laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1min 17.455secs 68 laps
3. Luca Badoer Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 17.555secs 74 laps
4. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 17.651secs 62 laps
5. Rubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1min 17.932secs 82 laps
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 18.239secs 63 laps
7. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 18.519secs 46 laps
8. James Rossiter Honda-Honda 1min 18.678secs 85 laps
9. Alex Wurz Williams-Toyota 1min 18.691secs 94 laps
10. Nelson Piquet Jr Renault-Renault 1min 18.852secs 93 laps
11. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1min 19.112secs 93 laps
12. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault 1min 19.187secs 93 laps
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1min 19.216secs 78 laps
14. Scott Speed Toro Rosso 1min 19.380secs 66 laps
15. Mark Webber Red Bull 1min 19.439secs 45 laps
16. David Coulthard Red Bull 1min 19.692secs 75 laps

Weather/Track conditions: Cold, dry and overcast.

all times unofficial - courtesy of the official Circuit de Catalunya website

Comparative lap times:

Spanish GP 2006:

Pole position: Fernando Alonso Renault-Renault 1min 15.816secsFastest lap: Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 16.648secs