Ferrari tester Luca Badoer was the quickest of nine drivers on duty at Barcelona today, as a three-day test, in preparation for the French GP, got underway.

With Ferrari only scoring ten points from the last two races, the Italian began an intensive programme, centred on experimenting with various new aerodynamic solutions in preparation for the next few races of the season, as well as trying different set-ups on the F2008.

Badoer got through the planned programme without any problems, other than the rain, which began to fall in the final hour of testing, and left him standing in the garage, like his rival testers.

Fresh from his Montreal victory, Robert Kubica was one of only two 2008 F1 drivers on duty, the Pole getting BMW's programme underway. The Pole worked on the aerodynamical and mechanical setup of the F1.08, concentrating on evaluating different options for the upcoming French Grand Prix. Although the afternoon session was shortened by the rain shower, the Munich team completed most of it's scheduled test programme.

In the morning, Kubica encountered a minor technical issue and following radio contact with his engineer made a precautionary stop. After repairs his car ran faultlessly for the rest of the day.

David Coulthard - the other 2008 F1 racer on duty, and, like Kubica, another visitor to the Montreal podium - was one of two drivers on duty for Red Bull, the other being Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi.

Running for most of the day, using only the Barcelona hard-spec tyres, Buemi worked on preparation for the forthcoming French Grand Prix. On his job sheet: some suspension development work and evaluation of a few minor aerodynamic modifications. This was the Swiss driver's first significant run in the car, after his last attempt at Paul Ricard had been thwarted by rain.

And it was the rain here today that meant David Coulthard, who was originally scheduled to take over for the final couple of hours, only managed a small number of laps, before play was stopped with just under an hour to go.

Technically the day went smoothly, with no problems and the entire programme was completed. Coulthard continues driving tomorrow, when the forecast is for fine weather all day.

Gary Paffett kicked off the test for McLaren, the Englishman spending the day evaluating a number of new aero and mechanical components intended for the next two races. He was delayed in the morning by a gearbox oil leak and by a minor front wing problem in the afternoon.

Making a welcome return to the cockpit was former Super Aguri driver Anthony Davidson, who was on duty today as test driver for Honda. In his first outing in an F1 car since the Spanish GP here in April, the Englishman completed 81 laps, posting a best time 0.796s off Badoer's pace.

Nico Hulkenberg was on duty for Williams, the German being the busiest driver of the nine on duty.

"Nico concentrated on race set-ups in the morning and then moved on to a race distance this afternoon," explained Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford. "We completed 112 laps with no problems before rain stopped play an hour before the end of the session. Nico Rosberg joins the test tomorrow and will focus on preparation work for Magny-Cours."

For Renault, Romain Grosjean made his testing debut at the wheel of the R28. The young Frenchman was clearly delighted at the chance to work with the team and to contribute towards its development programme. With next week's French Grand Prix in mind, the French outfit began its aero programme, but the main priority today was to allow Grosjean to acclimatise himself with the R28, build his confidence and get comfortable with the team.

Despite some problems with the car and the thunderstorm late in the day, the French youngster was happy with his day's work, completing a total of 60 laps. For tomorrow Nelson Piquet takes over driving responsibilities as the team resumes its aggressive development programme.

"It was a great day and I'm grateful for this opportunity to test the R28 and work with the team," said Grosjean. "It was interesting to see the difference between a GP2 car and an F1 car which is quite incredible, especially the acceleration and the lateral grip. The team made me feel very welcome and everyone was helpful as they knew it was my first time in the car. It was a great experience for me."

"It was a difficult day in terms of the car," added Christian Silk, "as we had some irritating problems which slowed the programme down a bit. We completed some aero work, but the main priority today was to give Romain some mileage in the car and to get him used to the team. He had a good first day and settled in reasonably quickly, so we are happy with his performance today. Looking ahead we will have a heavy programme for the rest of the week with a lot of aero and chassis work to be done."