McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen is on a roll. Hot on the heels of his dominant victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona the Finn set the pace by more than half-a-second in testing at Paul Ricard in France.

Raikkonen, working through a Michelin tyre programme ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, also gathered more vital information on the Mercedes new engine that helped him to his third career victory in Spain.

Ricardo Zonta was second fastest as he put miles on the Toyota's electronics system, while Renault test driver Heikki Kovalainen was third quickest ahead of his more senior team-mate Franck Montagny.

Red Bull drivers David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi were fifth and sixth fastest ahead of BAR test driver Enrique Bernoldi, who was reported to be testing Monaco tyres!

The BAR race drivers, Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, will be out in force tomorrow despite the team's race ban from Spain and Monaco, as they aim to make a winning return at the Nurburgring.

Elsewhere, Mark Webber took over duties from British tin-top ace Andy Priaulx as the Williams team conducted its own private test at Vallelunga.

The team's test driver Antonio Pizzonia was also present.

Ferrari's seemingly never-ending test programme continued at its Fiorano test track. Reserve driver Luca Badoer was joined by world champion Michael Schumacher as the pair work to improve Bridgestone's tyres.