Q & A with Paul di Resta

And the Scot put on a very promising showing, finishing as 11th quickest.

Now di Resta admits he can't wait to get back of track.

Q. So how did the session go? Was it easy getting up to speed?

Paul di Resta: I wouldn't say it was easy, it was always going to be quite challenging. I haven't driven this car in the dry, so when I did the superlicence it was wet at Jerez - as every other day was. The first impression of the car is always good and also Melbourne is not the easiest track to go out in your first attempt at it. There is not much room for error and the basic approach was to start at the bottom and work my way up.

The last lap was the fastest lap. It was quite a short run at the end and if we could have got some more laps in, we would have gone a bit better again. The session had quite a few red flags, which interrupted some of our running programme, but equally on the second run we were able to make some changes and start the development work for this weekend and go forward with the race car for the guys to take over.

Q. Were you able to improve it much from the beginning to the end?

PDR: Yeah. There were things that showed up right away, but the main improvement over the session was the track. The track was very green and certainly at the end, you could see a black line - even on the straights. It was very green and you were chasing the track a bit. At the same time, we went in the right direction I believe because when the track did rubber in, we didn't have any problems. I have to be optimistic about it.

Q. What is the biggest lesson you have learned today?

PDR: I wouldn't say there is any overall lesson I've learned. I certainly don't take anything for granted in this business. It is difficult and I know it is going to be a tough challenge - and what I am doing is going to be even harder. You are coming into the weekend, you are only driving in one session and you need to make the best of it.

Equally, everybody is getting to drive a lot more so they are going to be up to speed quicker - but we have our goals and our sights set on what we want to achieve from it. That is the way I am looking. I just want to take every lap, go about it as best as I can and try and improve run by run, and try and gain experience to go forward.

Q. Is the plan for you to be in the car at every race?

PDR: There are some I am not going to do, but the plan is I will in Malaysia, China and keep carrying on - keep going on the way it is. I am looking forward to it already. I almost want to go back out today because getting out of the car and having lunch, sitting and thinking about it a bit more gives you a bit of time, and it becomes more natural when you jump back in it.

Everything happens a bit quick - there are a lot of things you have to run through on an F1 car. It was a new track, a new car and a new system to me - there were quite a number of things I had to learn. I know for every track I am going to do it is going to be a new circuit to learn but in terms of the systems it should be relatively quite similar. Hopefully it will get easier the more it goes on.

Q. In terms of driving style, did you have to adapt much after the DTM?

PDR: I wouldn't say it takes much to adapt. It is finding the new tracks and finding where you need to be quick, and where the time is gained. And also finding the limits. Here, the other thing was how much the track improves over the first session. It just getting used to it.

It is going to be different and there is a lot more you can do as a driver to get your preferences with the differentials and torque maps. I am just running through everything, trying to learn as much as possible - equally trying to help the team and be sensible, and go forward with the development.

Q. Did the simulator help you much in preparing for this?

PDR: It gives you a great impression, but at the end of the day it is still not driving on the real thing. You have to be pretty careful when you are driving the real thing, because here especially the track is quite bumpy and the car bottoms out quite a bit. You have to be sensible with the risks you are going to take. And certainly where I started, at the bottom, to work my way up. If you make a mistake here, it is not forgiving - if you spin you are not going to drive away and continue around the lap. It is quite high speed for a street circuit.

Q. Did you have any hair raising moments?

PDR: No, it was all running really quite simply. I didn't feel that I was quite at that point in the car yet. I've not overcome the full comfort zone - it was about building myself up and feeling more comfortable in the environment there. It was also the first time I have been out on track with so many cars and traffic is quite a big problem here. It is about enjoying the moment.

Q. But it must have been a good feeling to be faster on the timesheet than some quite big names?

PDR: Yeah, but we didn't go into the session every thinking about looking at the timesheet. But of course it is always a bonus when you are halfway up the grid. I was pretty close to my team-mate, so given what we achieve there we have to be very happy with it. And hopefully it is a good foundation to build up for the upcoming races.