Di Grassi hopeful on Honda race seat

The Brazilian tested for the team yesterday alongside Bruno Senna, whom Honda are also evaluating as a possible replacement for veteran Rubens Barrichello.

Di Grassi, who finished in third place in the GP2 championship this year, will also test on Wednesday and hopes his performance lands him the seat.

"I'm proud there are so many Brazilians fighting for the seat," the Renault test driver said. "It means we are really good. I don't think it's about nationalities.

"Just because me and Bruno have done a very good job in GP2 Honda chose us to do the test. I hope I get the drive and do a good season next year."

The Brazilian admitted it was still too early to talk about how good his chances of landing the seat are.

"It's very difficult to quantify. It depends on how well it goes tomorrow and how it goes on Wednesday. So we'll see."

Di Grassi finished at the bottom of the times after 48 laps, but was still happy with his day's work.

"The track was quite green and the car was also very green. It was completely new," said di Grassi. "So far so good. I had a very good experience in the morning and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we will run a proper performance day."