Jaguar on fringe of top 10

Webber only recorded a couple of laps in the first session due to his exhaust coming into a contact with its heat-shield, which caused the car to smoke. His second session was much more rewarding, however, and he is upbeat over his chances this weekend.

"The car is feeling very well balanced around here and I am enjoying driving the car," said Webber. "I spent most of today working on tyres, and I am really pleased with the amount of laps that I completed and amount of data that was have gathered. Michelin have done a good job in preparing for this race and we are pleased with how the tyres are working with the R5. I am already looking forward to tomorrow."

Team-mate Christian Klien hit trouble when he spun off in the opening session, and was only 20th fastest in the afternoon period.

"I don't know this track so well but I am doing my best to get up to speed as quickly as possible," he said. "In my first session I made a minor mistake going into corner nine and ended up in the gravel, not ideal, but there was no damage to the car.

"My second session was pretty good although I did lock heavily at one stage and this cost me some time. I am generally pleased though with my two sessions as I completed my programme and the car is feeling good, the balance in particular is working well for me. I am now focusing on tomorrow as I need to spend some more time on track ahead of qualifying."

Friday tester Bjorn Wirdheim did a solid job, recording a high number of laps in the third R5.

"I like this track and I feel very comfortable here," said the Swede. "I had two really productive sessions today which have allowed me to compete 46 laps. I was spending my time focusing on tyre preparation and some engine endurance work. This worked really well and we have some good data to look at."