Barcelona winner Fernando Alonso was the pace-setter on the first day of testing at Paul Ricard today, as preparations for the Monaco Grand Prix got underway. Twelve drivers, representing seven teams, used the 2D SC Short circuit, whose twists and turns make an almost ideal substitute for the streets of Monte Carlo.

After a few set up changes this morning, Alonso focused on tyre testing during the afternoon to finalize the tyre selection for the next race.

Heikki Kovalainen ran with the brand new R26-06 chassis, in which he initially conducted basic systems checks. He then began his development programme which was mainly composed of general tyre testing.

At the end of the day, Fernando had set the fastest lap-time, while his teammate completed a mammoth total of 174 laps on his way to the fourth-fastest lap-time of the session.

"Our first day was very positive," said chief test engineer, Christian Silk, "we were able to follow our programme without any problem and we identified some interesting solutions. We worked on the preparation for Monaco and especially on the tyre testing. We covered a lot of laps, we were quick and we made good progress on both cars. It was a good day of testing."

While Luca Badoer was in action for Ferrari at Fiorano, Felipe Massa was the Italian outfit's sole representative here.

The Brazilian began a Bridgestone tyre development programme, covering a total of 128 laps, the quickest being just 0.021s slower than Alonso's best.

Third quickest was Jarno Trulli, at the wheel of the TF106B, which featured a revised aerodynamic package. The Italian was joined by Ralf Schumacher.

Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya were on duty for McLaren as the Woking team prepares to introduce a number of components which will be brought online at the upcoming races.

Work for the week will include a focus on the cooling and bodywork package for the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes-Benz V8 engine work, aerodynamic testing for Canada and Michelin tyre selection for Monaco and Montreal.

Kimi covered 68 laps in his MP4-21, equating to 245km of the French track. The Finni spent a couple of hours in the garage mid way through the day, as he and the team were evaluating suspension options. Juan Pablo completed 370km over the course of 103 laps, as he put in the sixth quickest time of the day.

McLaren will continue testing tomorrow with Kimi and Juan Pablo. The team's test drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett will take over driving duties for Thursday and Friday.

BMW had Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica on duty. In the morning both drivers carried out aero work for Monaco, while in the afternoon they both did tyre work for Michelin, with Nick working on compounds and Robert on casings.

Tomorrow Jacques Villeneuve will arrive to take over from Robert for the first of his two days. The schedule is to continue the tyre programme, do set-up work and a short programme to validate the aero work.

Toro Rosso's Scott Speed was ninth quickest, 1.039s off the pace, but ahead of the Red Bulls of Klien and Doornbos, as the Milton Keynes' outfit continues to struggle.