Thursday test times from Jerez

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 1min 20.737sec, the second fastest on the day behind Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais who clocked 1min 18.493sec.

"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 tires ahead of the first race in Melbourne next month."

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

Bourdais's time was slower than that set by teammate Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland the previous day during the session at the circuit near Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain.

The testing in Jerez ends on Friday.