Hamilton makes fast debut in 2008 mount

(GMM) Lewis Hamilton made an immediate impression on the stop watch at Jerez on Thursday as he completed his first laps in McLaren's new car.

After just 34 tours of the Spanish circuit at lunch, the 23-year-old Briton had bettered test driver Pedro de la Rosa's Wednesday best in the same configuration by more than half a second.

2007 championship runner-up Hamilton's fastest lap at lunch was a 1.19.132, compared with de la Rosa's 1.19.655 after a full day in the MP4-23 on Wednesday, and Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen's 1.20.559 in a second chassis.

"My first impressions are good," Hamilton, who had first exited the pits shortly after 9am, said.

"You can't really read all that much into a car after so few laps, but the feeling is positive," he added.

Hamilton, as well as Kovalainen, will be in action again on Friday.