New F1 World Championship leader and French Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa leads the way for Ferrari on the opening day of testing at Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix in less than two weeks' time.

Fresh off the back of his French Grand Prix success just two days earlier, new Formula 1 World Championship leader Felipe Massa paced the opening day's testing at Silverstone today (Tuesday), to show that he intends to keep that winning form up when the F1 circus arrives in Britain in under a fortnight's time.

The Brazilian covered 71 laps of the Northants circuit working on both set-up and the development of new aerodynamic and mechanical solutions for Ferrari's F2008, with just a small problem towards the end of the day interrupting his progress. Massa will remain in the car on day two, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen set to take over for the final day on Thursday.

Heikki Kovalainen was second-quickest for McLaren-Mercedes, just under three tenths of a second adrift of the outright pace as the Finn carried out evaluation of a new fuel and formulation of Mobil 1 lubricant, together with taking a look at new aero parts and mechanical components.

Third-fastest was Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica in the BMW-Sauber, as the Pole seeks to bounce back from a disappointing outing in Magny-Cours that dimmed his title charge somewhat. The 23-year-old enjoyed a positive day, completing 82 laps and encountering no issues as he focussed on set-up and aerodynamics. Kubica is set to return to the track on Wednesday, when he will also concentrate on tyre work.

Toyota test driver Kamui Kobayashi ended proceedings with the fourth-best time to his name, just over a second shy of the outright pace as the young Japanese ace discovered Silverstone for the first time, getting through 82 laps that combined learning the circuit with set-up and aerodynamic duties for the rejuvenated Cologne-based concern. French Grand Prix podium hero Jarno Trulli will take over the wheel on day two.

"This was the first-ever time that I've driven here at Silverstone," GP2 Series star Kobayashi confessed afterwards, "although I went around on a scooter yesterday to check the track. This morning I spent the early laps getting used to the circuit.

"It's fun to drive, and I especially liked the sweeping, high-speed corners at Becketts. The last sector is tricky, especially the double hairpin at Luffield where it is difficult to find the perfect line. We spent the day testing set-ups and different aerodynamic configurations. We made it through our programme, so it was a good day."

"After our great result at the weekend we have another busy week of testing here this week," added Toyota test team manager Gerd Pfeiffer. "Today Kamui began the programme with work on aerodynamics and set-up.

"As this was the first time he has ever driven at Silverstone, he took a couple of runs getting used to the track in the morning. From then on he worked well, completing many laps and getting through everything we had planned. Tomorrow Jarno will take over, as we continue to push in preparation for the grand prix here next week."

Fifth-fastest was Nico Rosberg in the Williams-Toyota, as the Grove-based outfit seeks to get its season back on-track again in the wake of a number of disappointing outings of late. After 88 laps, the young German ended up 1.2 seconds off the top spot.

"Nico joined the team for our first day of testing at Silverstone today," summarised Williams test team manger Dickie Stanford. "In readiness for the race here in just under two weeks, we worked through a number of set-up items and completed our scheduled programme without any problems. Nico will continue in the car tomorrow."

Rosberg's former team-mate Mark Webber was next on the timesheets, the Aussie concentrating his efforts on various aero and mechanical development programmes, with Red Bull Racing successfully getting through more mileage than had even been planned. With rain forecast for Wednesday, Webber will remain in the cockpit and will switch his focus to British Grand Prix preparation, looking at car set-up and evaluation of the Bridgestone tyres on offer.

Nelsinho Piquet wound up seventh-quickest for Renault, the young Brazilian buoyed by having scored the first points of his fledgling F1 career at Magny-Cours with seventh place - beating double world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso for good measure along the way - and spending a productive day conducting basic set-up work ahead of the race, completing a total of 68 laps with just a few unscheduled interruptions to the programme. Piquet will return on Wednesday, with Alonso set to take to the track on the final day.

Home favourite Jenson Button was eighth-fastest in his Honda, with Force India tester Vitantonio Liuzzi less than two tenths behind after completing a marathon 108 laps, the most of any driver present as the experienced Italian worked on set-up and tested out a major aerodynamic upgrade for the VJM01, before countryman Giancarlo Fisichella takes over on day two.

"Today was a long day with a lot of laps," Liuzzi related afterwards. "Fortunately the weather stayed dry and we could get some consistent running. The guys did a really good job and the car was very reliable. As a result it was a good day of testing.

"The new parts we ran gave a positive impact on the car, and Giancarlo and Adrian [Sutil] will have some more bits to test for the rest of the test. We covered a lot of miles and did some quick laps and the balance of the car felt better. The new package is working well so far, and hopefully in the next two days we will improve the speed as well."

"A very useful and busy day of testing," concurred the Silverstone-based squad's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne, "with Tonio completing 108 laps in total. We had the first stage of our major aero update, running a new front wing, bodywork and diffuser, which all ran successfully and performed exactly as predicted.

"Tonio also tested a new fuel system and went on to do set-up work for the grand prix. For tomorrow and Adrian's running on Thursday we have some further major aerodynamic and suspension updates, so today was overall a very useful first day knowing there is more to come."

There was no such good fortune, however, for Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, who brought up the order in tenth, almost four seconds away from the front-running pace after covering just ten laps due to technical woes afflicting his STR3 early on [see separate story - click here]. That means Vettel will unexpectedly return on Wednesday to get more running in on a circuit that is still new to him, with team-mate Sébastien Bourdais to take his place on the last day.

To see the first day's testing times in full, click here