Valencia test - day one: 17 January.

Fernando Alonso marked the official debut of McLaren latest challenger by setting the fastest time of the day in testing at Valencia, the reigning world champion putting the first laps onto the new MP4-22 chassis.

Delighting the fans who attended the circuit to cheer their national hero on, Alonso was one of only three drivers present at the Spanish circuit, managing a total of 59 laps to claim a best time of 1min 12.050secs.

Not that his session was made entirely easy after he was forced to pull into the pit lane with a minor oil leak, the Spaniard nonetheless returning to the track later in the day to manage the best lap of the day.

Indeed, Alonso was thrilled with his first outing in the car, claiming he is enjoying his time at McLaren thus far.

"I am very happy after today's shakedown in the MP4-22," he mused. "We achieved our principle objectives, with regards how the car felt to drive. I am familiar with the MP4-21 as I tested it for one day last year, so there were no great surprises. It has the same philosophy, which is good as I felt comfortable in this car.

"Working with the team so far has been really positive and I feel that the atmosphere is really enthusiastic. Everyone is really focused on preparing the car for the first race and we are approaching the start of the new season in a good way.

"Obviously today was just a shakedown and as a result running was limited. We were working in a very concentrated manner and attention was being paid to every detail of the car. I feel that over all today has been really good and the next few weeks testing will be very productive."

Also present at the test were BMW Sauber, who put the first meaningful running on their F1.07, running system checks with Nick Heidfeld before he was able to go for a quick time whilst working on set-ups. The German's best lap would prove to be just a tenth off Alonso's.

Robert Kubica meanwhile continued to explore comparative data with the hybrid F1.06B before he gets his chance to sample the F1.07, completing a mammoth 123 laps before the day was out.

"One day after the launch this was a very productive day of testing in Valencia with the new BMW Sauber F1.07," said technical director Willy Rampf. "We almost completed our system checks. Beside this Nick started with some set-up work. This had a good impact on the handling of the car. We are happy so far."

Leading times (January 17) - Valencia:

1. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1min 12.050secs 59 laps
2. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 12.169secs 53 laps
3. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 12.570secs 123 laps*

*Running with hybrid F1.06B

Weather/Track conditions: Dry and Sunny

All times unofficial - courtesy of BMW Sauber/McLaren