Jerez test - day one: 6 December.

Ferrari continued to mark itself out as the dark horse for title success in 2007, as Felipe Massa and Luca Badoer utterly dominated the opening day of testing at an unusually damp Jerez in southern Spain today.

Although he completed just over 50 laps, Massa was still nearly a full second quicker than the first non-Ferrari on the timing sheets, with test driver Badoer just over two tenths of a second behind the Brazilian. The pair concentrated on trying out new engine components and conducting set-up work on the 248 F1.

An impressive third on the list was recent McLaren signing Lewis Hamilton, with both the GP2 champion and the man he beat to the race seat, Pedro de la Rosa, focusing on Bridgestone tyre work and wing and suspension developments.

Christian Klien showed well in fourth position as he settles in as the third driver at Honda, with Franck Montagny fifth in the Toyota, as the Japanese squad also devoted its attention to acclimatising to the latest Bridgestone rubber.

"It wasn't a bad day," Montagny surmised. "I was in this car last at Silverstone in September, so it has been a long time. This morning it was wet and therefore a little bit difficult to run through our programme but we did find some interesting things.

"We worked on the set-up of the car and in the afternoon we were the first ones to put on the dry, grooved tyres. It was quite a good experience to test these new tyres and get a feeling for them, even though on this circuit it was a little challenging because of the track conditions this morning. We followed our programme and we did a good job - the car was quite quick today."

Driving alongside Montagny at Toyota was rising Japanese star and Toyota Young Driver Programme member Kohei Hirate, taking part in his first proper Formula One test. The F3 Euroseries race winner and soon-to-be GP2 ace completed 73 laps over the course of the day and ended proceedings 15th, just over a second shy of Montagny's best.

"It was very good day and it was a fantastic experience - a lot of fun," he enthused. "The car is very fast and physically it is harder to drive than the cars I am used to driving. It requires a lot of effort.

"I am happy to get the chance to work with the Formula One team and I think we did a good job. I didn't make any mistakes during the test session. We tried different set-ups and found a good one for the car. We have done a good job and now I am looking forward to getting the chance to test again."

Anthony Davidson showed Super Aguri's bold predictions for improvement may not be quite as ambitious as they at first seemed with the sixth-fastest time, less than a second away from Massa's best, with fellow Brit James Rossiter eighth for Honda.

Renault were further down the order than might have been expected, however, with Heikki Kovalainen ninth and Giancarlo Fisichella - making his first appearance in the car since October's season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix - a lowly 14th out of the 17 cars present. The duo spent the time focusing on tyre work and chassis set-up respectively.

"We lost a lot of running time this morning because it took a long time for the track to dry out properly," Kovalainen acknowledged, "We didn't see any point in running when the track wasn't ready. In spite of that, we did some important tests that help us better understand our conclusions from Barcelona, and that is a good step. We were not looking to set quick times but instead focused on the programme, and our progress meant it was a positive day for the team."

"This was a good day back at work for me," a relaxed Fisichella added. "I didn't run much this morning, and I was just concentrating on learning about the new tyres. I learned some useful things today, and will continue in the same direction tomorrow."

Also at the test were Williams with Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and Michael Ammermuller for Red Bull Racing, Vitantonio Liuzzi for sister squad Toro Rosso and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica and Sebastien Vettel. The latter pair took advantage of the mixed conditions to spend some time adjusting to both wet and dry-weather Bridgestone tyres, while Kubica - who suffered an off in the morning after oil leaked onto his tyres - also tried out a new gearbox.

Leading times (December 6) - Jerez:

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 19.463secs 51 laps
2. Luca Badoer Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 19.702secs 83 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes1min 20.238secs 80 laps
4. Christian Klien Honda-Honda 1min 20.404secs 94 laps
5. Franck Montagny Toyota-Toyota 1min 20.409secs 87 laps
6. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda1min 20.425secs 53 laps
7. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes1min 20.439secs 66 laps
8. James Rossiter Honda-Honda1min 20.721secs 98 laps
9. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault1min 20.782secs 71 laps
10. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota1min 20.955secs 83 laps
11. Mark Webber Red Bull-Ferrari 1min 21.038secs 72 laps
12. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber1min 21.078secs 75 laps
13. Michael Ammermuller Red Bull-Ferrari1min 21.142secs 76 laps
14. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault-Renault1min 21.274secs 50 laps
15. Kohei Hirate Toyota-Toyota1min 21.429secs 96 laps
16. Vitantonio LiuzziToro Rosso-Cosworth1min 21.957secs 97 laps
17. Sebastien Vettel BMW-Sauber1min 22.068secs 79 laps

Weather/Track conditions: Wet then drying.

All times unofficial ? courtesy of McLaren Mercedes