Mika Hakkinen propped up the timesheets on his return to Formula 1 on a day when Lewis Hamilton further underlined his potential.
Following last week's confirmation he would partner reigning world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren for next year, Hamilton has spent the last two days in the spotlight.
But double world champion Hakkinen stole the show on the final day of a three-day test session at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
For the first time since the final grand prix of the 2001 season, Hakkinen drove a McLaren, with the team insisting his return was to aid their winter testing programme.
Former team boss Eddie Jordan had earlier slammed the move as 'a publicity stunt', and was unable to understand the logic behind team principal Ron Dennis' decision.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 38-year-old Finn took a considerable period of time to adapt to a modern Formula One car, and by the end of the session was just over three seconds off the pace.
Hakkinen finished last of the 18 drivers, completing 77 laps and with his fastest a time of one minute 19.340 seconds.
Putting the situation into perspective, Hakkinen said: 'It has been an exciting day, and I have enjoyed the opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car after a five-year break.
'I spent the morning acclimatising to the environment of the cockpit again and just getting to grips with driving a 2006 car.
'I didn't expect to be quick straightaway, and Barcelona is a hard track on both the car and driver.
'It took several laps before I was up to speed, but we were all expecting this to be the case.
'Although it was great fun, I also had to do some serious work for the team as any feedback I could give them from today's experience will help them with their preparations for the 2007 season.
'As a result I was really pushing to try and do the best job that I could to assist them in any way possible.
'We have done some good work and got some great results and I am really grateful to the team for this opportunity and the mechanics for working so hard for me.'
As for Hamilton, he enjoyed his best day behind the wheel of the McLaren so far, posting a time 1min 17.077secs at the end of 86 laps.
