Sports

Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a confidence-boosting, warm-weather drive in his 2009 McLaren on Thursday while title rivals Ferrari were bogged down in a Middle East sandstorm.

The British driver put in 93 laps of the Jerez circuit with a best time of 1:20.737, the second fastest on the day behind Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais who clocked 1:18.493.

“Today’s test gave me the first opportunity to drive MP4-24 in warm, dry conditions — and I’m very encouraged by what I felt,” said Hamilton.

“The car feels strong, very similar to last year’s car, in fact. It doesn’t take long to get used to the new buttons in the cockpit, but the real test for everyone now is to understand the slick tyres ahead of the first race in Melbourne next month.”

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (1:20.738), Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams (1:20.898) and former double world champion Fernando Alonso, in a Renault (1:21.307) completed the top five.

Bourdais’ time was slower than that set by team-mate Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland the previous day.

Meanwhile, in Bahrain, Ferrari, as well as Toyota and Sauber, saw their testing schedule decimated by a desert sandstorm.

The teams were allowed out for installation laps in the morning at the Sakhir track, but after that running was suspended because the medical helicopter was unable to fly between the track and the nearest hospital.

The storm meant that former world champion Kimi Raikkonen spent the day in the Ferrari garage, unable to set a time.

“Another extremely precious test day has been lost,” said a Ferrari team statement.

“There are just another 12 testing days left before the season starts. We have another session planned for Friday with Kimi behind the wheel but the weather forecast is not optimistic.”