On a layout designed to give the teams chance to prepare for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton set the pace on the opening day of a three day Formula 1 group test at Paul Ricard.

Despite completing 84 laps over the course of the day at Le Castelett, Hamilton was the quietest driver on track but still posted a best time of 1min 05.660secs around the 2D SC Short configuration of the high tech test track.

Although he stopped on track at one point, Hamilton spent his time focusing on preparations for the Monaco event, with his day spent working on set-up development, tyre testing and evaluation of the Monaco-specific aerodynamic package which the team plans to use on the MP4-23 for F1's biggest event of the season.

Behind Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest for Ferrari, albeit some four tenths of a second behind his McLaren rival. Like the Briton, Raikkonen spent his day working on set-up and aerodynamic testing and the Finn completed more than 100 laps en-route to a best time of 1min 06.098secs.

Despite problems with his F1.08, Robert Kubica was third quickest for BMW Sauber as the three leading teams on the grid emerged at the top of the pile. The Pole managed to complete 124 laps during the day despite being forced to curtail his running during the morning when his car developed an oil leak.

With the team electing to change the engine as a precaution, Kubica was able to continue as scheduled into the afternoon as he attempted to fine tune the aerodynamics, suspension and engine electronics to cope with the unique challenge presented by the race around the streets of Monte Carlo. His best time was a fraction of a second slower than second placed Raikkonen.

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