Michael Schumacher's return to an F1 cockpit might have been "half for pleasure, half for technical reasons", but when testing got underway at the Circuit de Catalunya today it was strictly business as usual as the German dominated proceedings.

The seven-time champion, who has not driven an F1 car in anger since Interlagos 2006, completed 63 laps of the 2.892 mile circuit, posting a best time of 1:21.918.

The day marked the beginning of preparations for the 2008 season, and with new rules regarding a standard ECU and the banning of traction control, it was a day when many were 'testing the waters'. Not Schumacher however, who proved that even after a year away he still has the wherewithal to give his rivals a hard time.

As Ferrari worked mainly on the electronics of the F2007 and on development of new components aimed at next season, Schumacher was joined by Luca Badoer, who finished second on the timesheets. Tomorrow, the German is joined by Felipe Massa.

Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett were on duty for McLaren, as the Woking team, like its rivals, focused on running without driver aids on the MP4-22. Despite the number of red flag stoppages during the day; the team was able to complete its scheduled running.

As he got used to the new electronics, and the lack of traction control and other aids, Heikki Kovalainen quickly found his mark. In the morning, the Finn worked on setting up the balance of his car, and in the afternoon he did a number of long runs to test the new ECU's reliability.

"I was very happy to back driving today," admitted the Finn. "Since Brazil I haven't been out on the track for several weeks so I was pretty impatient this morning. I have to say that driving without any assistance, as was the case today is really great. You have to pay attention to your driving, your reaccelerating, your tyre wear and behind the wheel it's fun. We did a good job on our first day back. The car reacted well to our set-up changes and I think that between now and Thursday we'll make a lot of progress."

"The day went off well," added Christian Silk, the French outfit's Test Chief Engineer. "We've progressed and I think everybody was happy to back out on the track again. We're going to do our utmost to prepare for next year's season in the best possible conditions, and our first day's been very encouraging. We're going to continue along the same lines tomorrow and Thursday and we hope to make further progress."

Robert Kubica was the quicker of the two BMW drivers on duty, his best lap over a second better than teammate Nick Heidfeld's. Apart from some teething problems with the new electronics, and the numerous several red flags, it was a productive day for the German team.

In common with most teams, the main item on the programme for Red Bull was the new common ECU, and this task fell to Karun Chandhok, who spent the day running checks on the new systems. David Coulthard ran his RB3 with the 2007 electronics, but with the important difference that the electronic aids no longer allowed for 2008 - traction control and engine braking - were turned off, while he worked on evaluation of developments destined for next year's car.

Williams had its (newly announced) 2008 driver pairing on duty, with Kazuki Nakajima being the quicker of the two. The pair, driving interim FW29Bs, opened the winter programme with a "constructive" first day concentrating on component development. Neither car suffered any major faults, and both drivers will be back on duty tomorrow.

Ninth quickest was Jarno Trulli, who was joined by Franck Montagny, as the Japanese team deliberates as to who will partner the Italian next season.