On a layout designed to give the teams chance to prepare for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton set the pace on the opening day of a three day Formula 1 group test at Paul Ricard.

Despite completing 84 laps over the course of the day at Le Castelett, Hamilton was the quietest driver on track but still posted a best time of 1min 05.660secs around the 2D SC Short configuration of the high tech test track.

Although he stopped on track at one point, Hamilton spent his time focusing on preparations for the Monaco event, with his day spent working on set-up development, tyre testing and evaluation of the Monaco-specific aerodynamic package which the team plans to use on the MP4-23 for F1's biggest event of the season.

Behind Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest for Ferrari, albeit some four tenths of a second behind his McLaren rival. Like the Briton, Raikkonen spent his day working on set-up and aerodynamic testing and the Finn completed more than 100 laps en-route to a best time of 1min 06.098secs.

Despite problems with his F1.08, Robert Kubica was third quickest for BMW Sauber as the three leading teams on the grid emerged at the top of the pile. The Pole managed to complete 124 laps during the day despite being forced to curtail his running during the morning when his car developed an oil leak.

With the team electing to change the engine as a precaution, Kubica was able to continue as scheduled into the afternoon as he attempted to fine tune the aerodynamics, suspension and engine electronics to cope with the unique challenge presented by the race around the streets of Monte Carlo. His best time was a fraction of a second slower than second placed Raikkonen.

Following on from his solid performance in Istanbul, Mark Webber ended the day in fourth place for Red Bull Racing on his only scheduled day of running for the team this weekend. The Australian spent the day running with high downforce settings on the RB4 while evaluating aerodynamic components and working on mechanical set-up. He also tried both the soft and super soft tyre that will be available in Monte Carlo despite the fact that teams would normally run on harder rubber at Ricard.

On his first run in the new STR3, Sebastian Vettel was fifth for the sister Toro Rosso team as it prepares to debut the car in Monaco. With a faulty timing transmitter being the only real issue on the day, the youngster worked through a series of new car checks including set-up and car balance while working with both the soft and super soft Bridgestone rubber.

Williams became the latest team to try a 'shark-fin' engine cover on its car, following in the footsteps of Red Bull and Renault. With Nico Rosberg at the wheel, the new look car completed more laps than any other on track; the German managing 154 laps en-route to the sixth fastest time.