Nick Heidfeld put Renault on the top of the timesheets today in Jerez. The German was sitting in for the injured Robert Kubica, and trying to prove that he could do the job when the season comes round as well. He faces stiff competition from Renault's many reserve drivers, but he couldn't have done more than today - completing 86 laps altogether.

Fernando Alonso finished the day second for Ferrari, with he and Heidfeld the only two drivers to drop into the 1m 20s. Further back, Michael Schumacher was third with Lewis Hamilton fourth.

There were several red flags throughout the day, keeping the packed crowd on their toes. Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber brought out two, with the first coming less than half an hour after the session began. He also stopped at the end of the day, bookending his running. Sébastien Buemi also caused one stoppage, whilst Paul di Resta spun his Force India off track creating a brief red flag period as well.

Meanwhile, Williams saw improvement over yesterday, with Rubens Barrichello able to complete just short of 100 laps, and although the team had more problems with their KERS device, Rubens finished the day in 9th position.