Fisichella encouraged by R26

The Italian, who will continue testing with the car at Jerez in Spain on Wednesday, had an incident-free day as he completed almost 200 kilometres while the team conducted system checks on the new car.

"We had a very promising first day with the R26," said Fisichella. "I felt comfortable straight away, and the programme was to do as much mileage as possible, while proceeding with all the checks you have to do on a new car.

"This wasn't a day to go for lap-times, and it was hard to get the tyres working in the cold temperatures. The V8 engine felt very good, similar to our predictions and it was reliable for the first run. My first impression is that this is a car with a lot of potential."

Renault's technical director Bob Bell claimed that the early feedback from the driver and the team was exactly as the team had predicted. It was the first time that Renault's new V8 engine had run on the track.

"After our initial installation laps, our work proceeded smoothly," he said. "As with any new car, there were some minor issues to resolve, but we did not encounter any major problems and gradually began completing some longer runs.

"The purpose of the day was very simple: to put miles on the new package. From what Giancarlo could tell, the car is responding in the same way as the R25 - which is in line with our predictions, and our objectives.

"The engine's first track test went very smoothly, and the V8 was behaving normally as it completed nearly 200km. All in all, it was a pleasing opening day of testing with the new car."

World Champion Fernando Alonso will get his first taste of the new Renault on Thursday.