Pastor Maldonado unperturbed by lack of running in final test

Maldonado's Williams only managed three laps during the Friday morning's session, before stopping on track with an engine problem. He didn't make it back on track until within an hour of lunch, managing just 17 more laps before the break.

After lunch, Bruno Senna took over the new car, leaving Maldonado stranded at the bottom of the times for the second day in a row - on Thursday, an electrical problem interrupted the team's programme while Maldonado was in the car.

However, with the Williams team almost focussing exclusively on pit-stop practice throughout Friday, Maldonado said that the lost time was not a big issue in terms of his own preparation for the Australian Grand Prix.

"We had some problems with the engine in the morning, but today was a pit-stop test, so we didn't lose any important time," he said.

"We got to the bottom of the [engine] problem. It was a simple problem. Nothing serious, nothing important."

Despite the stoppages and lost time, Maldonado is happy with the progress of the FW34, particularly an update with the front wing.

"The car is looking good," he said. "We need to improve the pace on the long run a little better. [But] the car feels consistent, and every time we change something the car is responding. So I'm confident.

"I think at the moment it's very close. It's difficult to predict, because at the moment we don't know what the other teams are testing, but I feel confident. We need to work hard, keep concentrating, keep pushing."