McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was the quickest man in action on Wednesday as this week’s multi-team test at Paul Ricard got underway. Hamilton clocked a best time of 1m 05.600s around the French circuit, which was configured to a short layout to allow the teams to make preparations for the forthcoming Monaco Grand Prix.

With clear and sunny conditions it proved a busy day for all the teams. Leader Hamilton covered 84 laps in the MP4-23 as he focused on set-up and tyre work as well as a preliminary evaluation of McLaren's Monaco-specific aero package. He will hand over driving duties to team mate Heikki Kovalainen on Thursday.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished second quickest after completing 103 laps in the F2008. Raikkonen was charged with testing new aerodynamic components for the Italian team and was just over a tenth of a second faster than Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber.


Unofficial Wednesday test times from Paul Ricard:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:05.600
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:06.098
3. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:06.177
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:06.348
5. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:06.372
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:06.571
7. Alexander Wurz, Honda, 1:06.681
8. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:06.936
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:07.346
10. Lucas di Grassi, Renault, 1:07.430

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