Bianchi delighted with maiden F1 test

The Formula 3 Euro Series champion, who was recently signed to a long-term deal by the Italian squad, was fifth fastest on the opening day, and despite slipping to ninth on Wednesday, was in a positive frame of mind.

"We had lots of fuel today, looking towards next year, so we were not fast. But it was my job to do that because the team wanted to do it," Bianchi said.

"We did a good job I think, because we did a lot of laps without any mistakes or problems. So we finished the day with 113 laps. That's really good and I'm very happy.

"The most important thing was for me to learn how to drive a Formula 1 car, because it's really different between F1 and F3 cars, and even GP2 cars. I'm just here to learn how to drive it and how to work with the team."

Bianchi admitted that he would have liked more track time to acclimatise to the demands of driving a Formula 1 car than the three days teams are allowed before the end of the year.

"For me, no [three days are not enough]," said the Frenchman. "And see Nico Hulkenberg, who will do the season next year, it's certainly not enough for him. It would be better to have more days testing to prepare for a season, but at least it's the same for everybody."

Bianchi will not drive the Ferrari on Thursday, the team instead running Daniel Zampieri, Marco Zipoli and Pablo Sanchez as their prizes for taking the top three positions in this year's Italian F3 Championship.