Renault test driver Heikki Kovalainen scored at impressive hat trick at Paul Ricard today, having been quickest on all three days of this week's test.

After overnight rain, Renault made the most of a damp track early in the day to evaluate chassis and engine set-ups in the semi-wet conditions. Once the circuit was useable with dry tyres, Kovalainen focused on set-up development, and continued with tyre evaluation for Michelin.

"We only ran with one car this week, but that allowed us to really focus our programme and get a lot done," said Christian silk. "Heikki has had a very successful test and obtained a lot of good results on set-up directions and tyres. The reliability has been generally excellent, and we have unearthed a few small problems that we can now help the race team avoid. In a week when other teams have been hampered by poor conditions elsewhere in Europe, we have been lucky with the weather, and made the most of our three days' work."

Running for McLaren drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett did not get underway until after the lunch break, with Pedro taking to the track at 13:07 and Gary four minutes later.

The focus for Pedro was chassis developments for the MP4-21, with Gary working alongside Pedro on the same programme at the wheel of the interim MP4-20. Pedro covered 370km over 98 laps and set a fastest time of 1m05.381, which put him second on the timesheets. Gary completed 61 laps and 230km as he put in a time of 1m05.709.

"We have had a really positive test this week at Paul Ricard," said the Spaniard, "with reliable running on all four days. This has enabled us to put significant mileage onto chassis 4 of MP4-21 and the Mercedes-Benz V8 engine, as we worked through the various development programmes with the car.

"There have been a few problems with the weather on Tuesday and this morning," he continued, "but it did not affect my programme too badly, as I was able to continue putting in the miles. My total kilometres for the week is 2,207, and I was able to complete two Grands Prix distances on each of the first three days."

"It was good to get back to testing this week at Ricard," added Paffett. "Obviously it was a shame that I was not able to get on track on Tuesday, but my programme with Michelin was focused on dry running, which was not possible due to the wet weather conditions. We had a couple of positive days on Wednesday and Thursday and completed the tyre selection process for Imola. Today my focus was chassis development and we had some strong running in the afternoon when the track dried out."

BMW's Nick Heidfeld completed an astonishing 192 laps, posting the third fastest time of the day, and just 0.339s off Kovalainen's pace.

In the morning, the German ran an intermediate tyre programme and confirmed the tyre information for the Imola race in April. Later he gathered aero test data, and worked on brake and cooling system checks.

Despite the lack of running in the morning, Toyota drivers Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta completed 249 laps. The additional wind caused the team to wait until the track dried out. Yet, in the afternoon, both drivers were able to finish some long runs on the newer tyre compounds supplied by Bridgestone. Over the last three days, the team worked extensively on the tyre programme, testing new constructions and compounds, as well as performing set-up evaluations in preparation for the Australian Grand Prix.

Having put in 339 laps over the last three days, Ricardo Zonta finds Toyota is gradually getting on the right track.

"We continued today with tyre testing," said the Brazilian. "I did three long runs in the morning and another three in the afternoon because the track temperature changed over the day, and therefore we repeated the test. This was very important for Melbourne because we will make the tyre decision for this race based on these runs. I feel this test has brought encouraging results, nevertheless the team will push forward and continue to work on finding the best solutions for the coming races."

Frenchman Olivier Panis felt at home returning to the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, where he assisted the team in making preparations for the next grand prix.

"The test went well and it looks constructive for the team," said Olivier. "When we started this morning, the track conditions were cold and damp, but we used the weather to our advantage, testing wet tyres in the morning and dry tyres in the afternoon. Everyone worked hard and we are still sorting out the car set-up, but the results from this test give us some positive insight for the next race and tests."

Panasonic Toyota Racing finishes its three-day testing in Le Castellet, having focused on tyre testing and car behaviour for the grand prix in Australia.

"We have used the last three days to gain data on the car and how it behaves with various tyre constructions and compounds," said Gerd Pfeiffer, Toyota's Test Team Manager. "Both Ricardo and Olivier were very thorough with their feedback today and based on this as well as the results that we have collected, we have decided on the tyre choice for Melbourne. We know that the next races will be challenging and that we still have work to do, but we are confident we are heading in the right direction."