Renault F1 rookie Jolyon Palmer says testing has been disastrous

The Briton logged just 177 laps across his first three days with a hydraulic problem on his fourth and final day then limiting him to only 31 before lunch.

In contrast, his team-mate Kevin Magnussen completed more than 100 laps on each of his four days and left Barcelona with a tally of 509.

"It's been a little disastrous," Palmer said. "I didn't even manage 200 laps over three days.

"It's not what you want when you're a rookie and you want to turn up to Melbourne and do a good job.

"The baseline car at least is reasonable. We'll keep working."

Palmer said that while it was "unlucky" he did not get as many laps as Magnussen, the work the Dane achieved will be crucial for the team.

"It's good because if he did same number laps as me, we're in trouble as a team," he said.

"It's good he had four trouble-free days, I wish I had four trouble-free days but it is what it is.

"It's unlucky but I'm quite pleased from a team point of view that he's at least given us a direction and a good understanding of the car."

He added that his work with the team last year, in which he took part in 13 grand prix free practice sessions for what was then Lotus, limited the damage to his preparations.

"The cars are so technical now so it is important I have the experience to fall back on given the lack of running," he said.

"It is why I don't feel too far behind. I'm quite confident I can turn up at Melbourne and everything will be OK."