Jordan Change Monteiro's Engine

That incident robbed him of vital track time early on and left him frustrated because he believes the team have made some genuine progress with the handling of the EJ15.

"It was quite a difficult Friday for me," said Monteiro, who ended second practice 22nd overall, one place ahead of teammate Narain Karthikeyan. "We had a little problem on the engine in the first session and had to change it. Therefore I am going to start last on the grid on Sunday and consequently, we have to adapt our strategy.

"Car-wise, we have improved a lot from this morning and also because the track got better and better. I think we have a good set-up for the car and we are not too far from the teams in front of us and this is a big improvement since the last time we tested in Silverstone."

Monteiro was not the only Jordan driver facing troubles, with third driver Robert Doornbos having a far from straightforward time as he continued work on the EJ15B.

"Today went quite well even though I had some technical problem with the new EJ15B at the beginning of the second session," he said. "This cost me a little bit of time, and this is not good for me as I only have two hours on Friday.

"But in the end, we have found a good car balance and I was able to get a clear lap and pushed."