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Fernando Alonso made a perfect start to life at Ferrari by posting the fastest lap time of the week on the final day of the first test in Valencia.

It was the first time the Spaniard had got his hands on the wheel of the F10, which so far has proved fast throughout the three days. Alonso posted a 1m 11.470s in mid-afternoon and showed consistent times throughout. However, rival teams are taking these times with a pinch of salt due to the differing fuel tanks, tyres and track condition.

Despite the mystery, Ferrari can be pleased with their work this week after topping the time-sheets each day and reliability, so far, seems positive. Alonso and co will head to Jerez in a week’s time in bullish mood, confident of beating the Red Bull, which will make its long-anticipated debut.

Sauber rounded off an impressive debut test by taking second position, de la Rosa’s best time 0.6s off Alonso’s time. The C29 has looked in decent shape throughout the three days, although, Wednesday started on a sour note after the 38-year-old tangled with new-boy Nico Hulkenberg and had to spend over an hour in the garage whilst the team made changes.

After all the hype about Michael Schumacher’s return to the sport, the three days of testing was a bit more of a quiet affair. Schumacher’s team Mercedes, has not set any blistering times as of yet and were working on reliability, set-up and long runs.

Mercedes seem to be taking a more defensive approach with their drivers and their true pace is likely to be shown in next week’s test.

Another Spaniard had an encouraging day, Jaime Alguersuari produced the fourth quickest time and had a trouble-free day in the Toro Rosso. The youngster logged up 97 laps in his maiden test and will be hoping for more good fortune, which averted him in 2009 when he was thrown in the car mid-season without any testing.

World champion Jenson Button made a steady start to life at McLaren, this despite early setbacks with his race-seat being in the wrong position. The reigning champion posted the fifth-fastest time of the day, 1.5s short of the prancing horse.

Button admitted it had been a “tough day,” but he was optimistic of improvement and warned not to take times too seriously at this early stage of pre-season.

Vitaly Petrov made a good impression on his first day for Renault, taking sixth spot after some consistent runs. The Russian completed 75 laps in the R29 and was only a tenth behind Button when the session was halted.

Nico Hulkenberg brought up the tail on Williams debut, but, can be pleased with his day after wracking up 126 laps.

Testing resumes on the 10th February at Jerez.

Felipe Massa continued to top the time-sheets on day 2 of the first test in Valencia, clocking a 1m 11.722s, 0.8s quicker than his best effort yesterday.

Massa produced his best lap on lap 15 but amounted 124 laps in sunny but cool Spain. Fernando Alonso takes over the car on Wednesday and it’ll be interesting where Alonso stands in comparison with Massa’s pace, although fuel loads are not released publicly, so times may have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

All the drivers completed over 100 laps yesterday, apart from Kamui Kobayashi, who completed 96 circuits in his impressive Sauber. The Japanese rookie, who is going taking part in his first full pre-season in Formula 1, posted the second fastest time of the day – 0.3s behind the F10.

Sauber have impressed so far in this test and it will be interesting if they can carry the form being shown throughout pre-season.

2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton had his first outing in the new McLaren and posted the third best lap time of the day, half-a-second off the pace. The Englishman said the car felt better than the 2009 car but it was too early to know where the team stands compared with their title rivals.

Hamilton hands the MP4-25 over to reigning world champion Jenson Button on Wednesday and it will be fascinating to see what Button can achieve on his McLaren debut.

Renault brought up the tail on Monday, but driver Robert Kubica shrugged it off, claiming the team was only doing system-checks. The Pole’s claim was backed up by an impressive performance on Tuesday, taking fourth place and only 0.2s behind the McLaren, despite doing long runs throughout the day.

Kubica’s day did end prematurely though after stopping in the pits five minutes from the end and consequently the red flag was deployed.

Nico Rosberg has had an uncomfortable start to life at Mercedes, after claims of unfair treatment towards Michael Schumacher were made by his former team-mate Rubens Barrichello. The Williams driver warned the young German to “get out as soon as possible.”

Rosberg said he wasn’t bothered by the claims and just wanted to concentrate on driving. He did have another problem after his seat was apparently 1.5cm too low, which resulted in little visibility.

The Mercedes took fifth place in the standings and Rosberg will hand over to Schumacher on the final day.

Williams revealed that Brazilian Barrichello was on long runs on Tuesday and their lowly position shouldn’t be taken too much notice of. The FW32 will be driven by rookie Nico Hulkenberg on the final day in Valencia.

The Toro Rosso, driven by Sebastien Buemi was rooted to the bottom of the time-sheets. However, the team will be encouraged with 107 trouble-free laps.

Testing concludes on Wednesday.

Felipe Massa returned to the track yesterday and showed no ill-effects of the injury he sustained last year to put his Ferrari top of the time-sheets with a time of 1m.12.574s.

Massa finished the day 0.2 seconds ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in the Sauber, and almost half-a-second in front of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, who impressed in the afternoon session, beating his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

After a cold morning in Valencia, the action soon hotted up with Massa posting some scintillating lap times in the F10.

Gary Paffet gave the new McLaren MP4-25 its first outing and produced the fifth fastest time of the day, three-tenths behind Rosberg in the sister Mercedes.

The Williams driven by Rubens Barrichello trailed the McLaren by over half-a-second when testing was halted for the day. Barrichello caused the only red flag of the day when his car stopped on the track, which led to the session being extended by ten minutes.

The Toro Rosso and Renault of Sebastien Buemi and Robert Kubica respectively brought up the tail of the field. Notably, the Renault was the only car who didn’t break the 1m.15.00s barrier.

The day belonged to Massa though, nevertheless the fuel loads, he showed tremendous character to post the times he did.

Schumacher was also impressive but without knowledge of fuel loads the testing times may turn out to be irrelevant.

Testing resumes today, where all eyes will be on Lewis Hamilton – who drives the MP4-25 for the first time. Massa continues for Ferrari, which means Alonso will complete the programme on Wednesday.