Reigning Formula One world champions Renault ended the first day of testing at Silverstone – the final major test of the season – on top courtesy of 2007 race driver Heikki Kovalainen.

The French team had both the Finn and new test-driver Nelson Piquet Jnr in action for them on day one, with the Brazilian backing Kovalainen up with a strong fourth-fastest time out of the eight drivers present, just six tenths of a second adrift. Between them Kovalainen and Piquet completed a total of 162 laps working on Michelin tyre selection in preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix next month.

“We made good progress today,” said Kovalainen. “The track was changing a lot so we will need to analyse the data to evaluate the level performance of each type of tyre, but it was a good day of testing.”

“There are some similarities with the GP2 car in terms of the clutch and electronics, but I still have a lot to learn,” added Piquet. “The main thing for today was to do as much running as possible and to take everything on-board.

“It's important to learn a lot and to meet the people I am going to work with. It was a busy and interesting day, and I felt comfortable in the car straightaway which is quite positive."

Also taking part in the test was Toyota, for whom Renault-bound Ricardo Zonta and Franck Montagny – hotly tipped to be the team's third driver in 2007 – were in action, recording the second and third-quickest times respectively within three tenths of a second of each other. It was a strong debut performance from the Frenchman and will no doubt boost his chances of landing a testing contract at the Cologne-based squad next year.

Christijan Albers was joined at Spyker by promising young Spanish star Adrian Valles, while Sakon Yamamoto carried out aerodynamic, electronic and braking work for Super Aguri. Narain Karthikeyan brought up the rear of the timesheets for Williams, suffering a number of teething issues as the team tried out Toyota engines for the first time ahead of 2007.

The final team participating in the three-day test is McLaren, with GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton getting his first run in the car today as the team conducted shakedown laps before embarking on a more stringent programme on Wednesday and Thursday.

“What a feeling!” Hamilton exclaimed at the end of the day. “I couldn't stop smiling when the team fired up the engine this morning. Although today's shakedown has just been to familiarise myself with the car, complete radio checks, practice manual launches and that kind of thing, the experience of driving the McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 is just fantastic.

“I can't wait to put in more mileage and really find the limits of the car tomorrow. It has been a great year for me to date, and alongside winning the GP2 championship I have worked hard to ensure the team feels I am ready to have this test. It is going to be an intensive couple of days with the test team and I am looking forward to starting the test proper tomorrow morning.”


Leading times (September 19) - Silverstone:

1. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault 1min 19.125secs 91 laps *
2. Ricardo Zonta Toyota-Toyota 1min 19.381secs 46 laps
3. Franck Montagny Toyota-Toyota 1min 19.654secs 38 laps
4. Nelson Piquet Jnr Renault-Renault 1min 19.723secs 71 laps *
5. Christijan Albers Spyker-Toyota 1min 21.115secs 48 laps
6. Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1min 24.361secs 50 laps
7. Adrian Valles Spyker-Toyota 1min 25.401secs 56 laps
8. Narain Karthikeyan Williams-Toyota 1min 28.284secs 6 laps


* denotes Michelin tyres; all others Bridgestone


Weather/Track conditions: Dry.


All times unofficial - courtesy of Renault UK Press Office