The McLaren tester’s time of 1:15.675 gave his home crowd something to cheer about, but the man they really wanted to see, Renault’s Fernando Alonso, was only briefly sighted.

As on other Grand Prix Fridays, it was the testers who were left to provide the entertainment.

A majority of the race contingent weren’t interested in clocking up miles on a track they all know well.

Williams looked surprisingly strong on Friday morning with Nick Heidfeld setting the third fastest time.

But the team’s hopes of success were dashed last week when the engine in the German’s FW27 had to be replaced.

BMW also found a problem with the unit in Mark Webber’s car meaning the Australian couldn’t even complete one lap.

New parts are on the way but it is unlikely they will arrive in time for the Australian to run on Friday.

Dutch compatriots Christijan Albers (Minardi) and Robert Doornbos (Jordan) both went flying off the circuit in session one.

Doornbos managed to escape the gravel while Albers was unfortunately beached.

Almost as soon as BAR’s transporters rolled into town they were sent packing.

The team, who were yesterday hit with a two-race ban, were packing the last of their gear as their rivals belted around Barcelona on Friday morning.

An announcement was made that BAR had decided not to appeal the international court of appeal's decision.