Kubica, Mondini could secure more tests

Kubica and Mondini have been awarded their half-day runs with Renault as prizes for their championship successes. And, although they will not have many laps to make an impression, Renault have not ruled out inviting either or both of them back for more running if they shine.

Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds said: "If we feel that there is some signs of promise in what they are doing, it is very likely that we will invite them or maybe one of them back in a more intensive test."

Symonds has told both drivers that the team will be more interested in how much progress they make in the test than in actual out-and-out lap times.

"In terms of what they need to do we are not just looking at laptimes. It may seem obvious that lap times are important but I don't think we can expect a young driver could be fast when he first gets into the car. What we are looking for is continual improvements, consistency and above all we are looking for understanding of what is going on.

"So we don't give them to much to do. We just let them run a few laps, then come back to the pits and try to understand what is going on, looking to some data, basically to ensure they understand how to drive efficiently a Formula One car.

"We hope to see that slowly their lap time improve, that slowly the number of mistakes they make reduces and that they have enough mental capacity left to describe what the car is doing, how it is on any particular corner."

Despite their short time in the car, Symonds believes that first impressions in an F1 car can provide a major clue to a driver's future potential - and he cites Fernando Alonso as a key example.

"Generally we don't ask young drivers to do many laps because Formula One driving is really tiring," he added. "There are lots of muscles you simply don't build up in the other forms of racing but Fernando was really impressive for his first session. In fact so impressive that we found a reason to ask him to make quite longer runs. He was wonderfully consistent.

"So sometimes that happens and we can be impressed by the young drivers we are testing. But I don't think we can take that one day testing to predict what the Formula One career of a driver could be.

"But I do think that first impressions are really quite important, certainly concerning in terms of the approach and the intelligence that help us to get an impression in a really short time."