Hamilton outpace three world champions

Despite a damp start to the day’s running, Hamilton covered 78 laps in the MP4-23

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, and clocking 1m 22.276s beat all three world champions, Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

Michael Schumacher manage to clock third fastest time 1:22.428, 1 tenth behind Kimi Raikonen second place.

Williams continued to impress, with Kazuki Nakajima taking fourth slot and Nico Rosberg finishing in sixth. The duo covered over 150 laps as they continued to carry out set-up work and engine system checks.

Nick Heidfeld led the BMW Sauber line-up in eighth, with team tester Christian Klien 14th. It was the first time Klien had driven the squad’s F1.08 in dry conditions and he covered 42 laps as he carried out system checks and basic set-up work. Heidfeld, who completed 75 laps, will be joined by team mate Robert Kubica on Tuesday.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso just missed out on making it under the 1m 23s mark and ended the session seventh. Team mate Nelson Piquet Jr, meanwhile, took up 15th spot. The French team ran through a race simulation in the morning before switching to pit-stop practice in the afternoon.

Unofficial Monday times from Barcelona:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:22.276
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:22.319
3. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:22.428
4. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 1:22.724
5. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 1:22.852
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:22.974
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:23.021
8. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:23.075
9. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:23.091
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.115
11. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:23.188
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:23.239
13. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:23.270
14. Christian Klien, BMW Sauber, 1:23.442
15. Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault, 1:23.609
16. Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota, 1:23.880
17. Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:24.660
18. Alexander Wurz, Honda, 1:24.667
19. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:24.826

Detailed report: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/2/7390.html