Paul di Resta happy despite low-key start to F1 testing at Barcelona

The Scot completed 98 laps today, winding out the final session seventh fastest with a best of 1m24.395s, one second behind chart-topper Romain Grosjean.

But di Resta has no concerns about not being closer to the top of the timesheets, claiming that the data gathered from today - particularly during this afternoon's longer runs - will be crucial for the team to push for more performance later in the test.

"I think [our feeling] is relatively positive," he said. "We cleared all of our objectives today. It's the first day of four, at the last test, so I suppose there is a lot of correlation on this day.

"[We had] some new bits on the car [to] see how they perform, and to get an idea ahead of what the main focus should be, which is performance, and set-up direction - which we'll head into tomorrow."

Nico Hulkenberg will take over running of the VJM05 tomorrow, with di Resta expecting the car to look more competitive when he jumps back in on Saturday.

"I'm out of the car tomorrow, Nico is taking the seat, but I'll be back in the car for day three and hopefully there will be another step forward," he added.

"But I think we're on an upward slope, so as long as that progression continues, from what we can see around about us, we should be relatively clear."