De Puniet struggling to get up to speed

The French rider was never higher than 13th during this week's Sepang test, and was between two and three seconds off the pace on all three days.

De Puniet has a reputation as a one-lap specialist and achieved some excellent qualifying results on Michelins last year, but was frustrated to be so far from the front-runners at Sepang.

"We improved the lap time but it's not enough for me: last year I was fourth here in the same test session," said de Puniet.

"This morning we took a step forward and I knew I could improve more in the afternoon but we suffered some brake problems and we skipped the session for more than one hour.

"Today I feel more positive than yesterday but I need more time to adjust the bike."

De Puniet had said on Friday that he could not ride with confidence at present.

"We tried many things to adjust the setting but I still struggle in corner entries," he said.

"I cannot face the curves as I normally do. If I push a bit more I can easily crash and this is very frustrating."