Having packed up early on Friday when rain compromised its programme, McLaren, along with eight other teams was disappointed to see that the unseasonable weather was continuing to cause problems four days later.

Thankfully however, the rain that greeted the teams this morning eventually eased off, allowing the teams to get to work with their planned programmes.

Although the Woking team only had one driver on duty (Alonso), it will be delighted to see that at the end of the first day of a three day test the Spaniard enjoys almost a second over his nearest rival, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

The conditions this morning allowed Alonso, running the MP5-22, to evaluate Bridgestone's extreme wet weather tyres, including some transition work to the wet weather options. Alongside the tyre work, Fernando and the team also focused on "continued systems sign-off" with the MP4-22.

For the final couple of hours, the team ran with dry weather tyres, enabling it to cover the full Bridgestone range during the course of the day.

Unfortunately, the Spaniard stopped on track with only five minutes of the session remaining with a minor oil leak.

Raikkonen, having his first run in the F2007 (above), was partnered by Luca Badoer, in the 248 F1,as the team focussed on development of the new car and testing new components, in addition to set-up work.

While the Finn had a trouble free day, the Italian's programme came to an early end as a result of a "technical problem". Earlier in the session Badoer was involved in an incident with Alonso which saw the Ferrari having to take avoiding action and spin off onto the grass.

Tomorrow, Raikkonen is joined by Felipe Massa.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Nelson Piquet were in action for Renault, both at the wheel of 2007 cars, though they completed very few laps as they waited for the slippery track conditions to improve. Following an installation lap first thing in the morning, the due waited until late in the afternoon before beginning proper running. The French team's objective for the test remain the same as in previous weeks: gaining maximum mileage with the new package, and continuing to explore set-up options with the new car.

Although the day was not as productive as the team had hoped, they are confident of making good progress with the technical programme during the rest of the week. Due to the poor weather conditions the team has decided to extend its test, initially planned for three days, to include Friday as well.

"It was pretty frustrating today," admitted Fisichella, "waiting for the track conditions to improve. We basically lost a day's work but that can happen at this time of year. We still have three days left though, and I am sure we can make some good progress during the rest of the week."

"In the end, it wasn't such a busy day for us," added Piquet. "We only began the programme towards the end of the day when the weather improved. Everything went OK from my point of view, and it feels like the real work has begun now: these are important tests for the team, and there is still a lot to do before the opening races."