Giancarlo Fisichella topped the timesheets at Jerez today, with Renault teammate Heikki Kovalainen just 0.107s behind.

Although the circuit was wet in the morning, this didn't stop Giancarlo and Heikki from running as soon as the track opened, which allowed the team to conduct software checks while also getting a feel for the handling of the R26 in these low-grip conditions.

The circuit improved steadily through the morning, and was dry by early afternoon. The drivers continued their programmes, with Giancarlo focusing his efforts on set-up evaluation while Heikki tested tyres with Michelin, in preparation for the season-opening races in Bahrain and Malaysia.

Before moving on to Valencia next week, the team will continue its work tomorrow with a single car, as Heikki Kovalainen conducts wet weather testing with Michelin.

"We had another interesting day," said the Italian, "in spite of the fact that the track was wet this morning. I was very pleased with the car in wet conditions, and then concentrated on set-up development. I am pleased with the times today, and I think we have completed an important part of our winter work this week. We now need to maintain a good rhythm, and work hard, because the first race is coming up fast."

"I was pleased with today," admitted the Finn. "We made good progress, which had seemed unlikely this morning when the track was wet. It was a productive programme, and we did plenty of tyre testing. Personally, I was pleased with the speed and with my first experience of the R26 in the wet. I felt very comfortable, and I should get an even better impression tomorrow during the wet weather testing for Michelin."

"The track conditions this morning allowed us to get a first impression of how the car handles in wet weather," said Christian Silk. "Giancarlo seemed pleased with the car, and although it was Heikki's first test in these conditions, he adapted very quickly. We had a productive afternoon, with Heikki conducting tyre testing in preparation for the first races of the year. Giancarlo continued to focus on set-up development, and he seems to have found some good solutions. After tomorrow's wet-weather work, we will continue next week in Valencia, beginning on Wednesday."

Kimi Raikkonen tested for half a day for McLaren, before leaving at lunchtime to attend al team function in London.

The Finn's programme focused on set-up evaluations. Unfortunately the track was still damp from overnight rain for the majority of the morning and he only switched to intermediates 10 minutes before he was due to leave.

Pedro de la Rosa took over driving duties of the MP4-21 for the afternoon's running, however, his afternoon was cut short when he suffered an engine failure shortly before the end of testing.

Gary Paffett was testing alongside Kimi and Pedro, his work consisted of testing the different Michelin compounds for the first three races of the season.

Pedro will continue the team's testing programme tomorrow (Saturday), which is a Michelin wet test with the track artificially dampened.

Nick Heidfeld was joined by Robert Kubica, as BMW continues to show good form. The German evaluated Michelin tyre options for Bahrain, but in the afternoon experienced a technical problem, which forced him to return to the pits and cost him valuable track-time. He was able to continue, but the team is now analysing its data to identify the cause of the problem.