New Formula One world championship leader Felipe Massa took the honours on the first day of this week's three-day test at Silverstone.
Brazilian Massa heads the drivers' standings for the first time in his F1 career following his third win of the season, and eighth in the sport overall in Sunday's French Grand Prix.
High on confidence, and with the teams fine-tuning preparations for the British Grand Prix on July 6, Massa completed 71 laps of the 3.194-mile circuit, with his best a time of one minute 20.188secs.
Massa comfortably pushed McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen into second place by 0.289secs, with BMW Sauber's title challenger Robert Kubica third and over 0.8secs adrift.
With all 10 teams taking to the Northamptonshire track, only two employed their test drivers, with one of those, Kamui Kobayashi for Toyota, a fine fourth in 1:21.335.
"It was the first time I've driven at Silverstone, although I went around on a scooter yesterday to check the track!" remarked the Japanese driver.
"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 tested set-ups and different aerodynamic configurations. We made it through our programme, so it was a good day."
Nico Rosberg was fifth for Williams, followed by the Red Bull of Mark Webber and Renault's Nelson Piquet, who finally scored his first points of his debut season at Magny-Cours.
Jenson Button, desperately looking for any kind of tonic ahead of his home race, was seventh for Honda, nearly two seconds down on Massa.
Force India tester Vitantonio Liuzzi was eighth, the Italian completing 108 laps, the most of any of the 10 drivers.
Sebastian Vettel's day was cut short by a technical issue with his Toro Rosso which allowed the German to complete only 10 laps, with his best a 1:23.853, and he brought up the rear.
The team are hoping to resolve the problem to allow Vettel a full day in the car on Wednesday, with team-mate Sebastien Bourdais taking over on Thursday.
Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 01:20.188 71 laps
02 H. Kovalainen McLaren 01:20.477 90 laps
03 R. Kubica BMW 01:20.995 82 laps
04 K. Kobayashi Toyota 01:21.335 82 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 01:21.410 88 laps
06 M. Webber Red Bull 01:21.565 94 laps
07 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:21.797 68 laps
08 J. Button Honda 01:22.081 90 laps
09 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 01:22.250 108 laps
10 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:23.853 10 laps
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