The test was the first steps in the process of working on the setup of the new FW26. The day would also see the team tyre their Michelin tyres on the new car.

And what an impressive start to proceedings with Juan Pablo setting the fastest time of the day. He would set a fastest lap time of 1m:16.847, to lead Zonta in the Toyota and Trulli in the Renault by over a second. Juan Pablo would complete forty six laps.

Williams Technical Director Patrick Head said in an interview with autosport.com: "We had a small gearbox problem with Juan Pablo's car. It's only the start of a long preparation process prior to Melbourne, but It wasn't a bad first day.

"We decided to push the car early because that's what we didn't do last year, and we thought we'd try something different. We're basically going through the systems on the car and checking the response of the drivers. It is a big encouragement to the guys back in the factory who worked on the car. It's still early days yet, and because of the problems we've done very little today, but we'll see."

Marc Gene was fifth fastest quickest time, completing forty one laps, and was himself slowed by gearbox and transmission problems.

WilliamsF1 Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael commented on the day by saying: "Today we worked on the initial set up of the FW26 with Juan Pablo. We've concentrated on trying a variety of different set ups and collecting initial data from the car. Naturally, we have encountered one or two teething problems, as you would expect with a new car, but Juan managed to complete some good mileage. Meanwhile, Marc ran an FW25B today to assess on-going tyre testing."

Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gené will both be testing again tomorrow.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps

1. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.847 46
2. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:17.984 72
3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.092 99
4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.099 41
5. Montagny Renault (M) 1:18.424 90
6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:19.002 60
7. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:19.207 60
8. Panis Toyota (M) 1:19.377 47