McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton topped the test timesheets for the first time in his Formula One career on Thursday while Kimi Raikkonen made a surprise appearance with Ferrari at the Jerez circuit.

Briton Hamilton, 21, did 80 laps at the southern Spanish track and put in a best lap of one minute 18.682 seconds with Renault's Italian Giancarlo Fisichella second quickest in 1:19.681.

Hamilton, in only his second full test as a confirmed Formula One driver, finished the session early after running off the track and damaging the car, however.

It was the first time in five days of testing since the season ended in October that championship runners-up Ferrari had not led the timesheets.

Raikkonen, under contract to McLaren until the end of the year, dropped in on his new team to see how things were going but will not drive the Ferrari until January.

"He was there just to learn a bit about how the team works," a Ferrari spokesman said. The team concentrated on engine endurance testing and experimenting with new components for the 248F1 car.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso is not taking part in the Jerez test either as he remains under contract to Renault until January, when he joins McLaren.

McLaren have asked Renault to release the Spaniard early, a move that would allow him to test in Jerez next week if granted.