Kubica thrilled with swift engine change

The change allowed Kubica to rejoin for the final part of the afternoon and take 11th position. He had earlier been mired at the bottom of the timesheets thanks to an electrical glitch that limited his running in the morning.

"In the morning I had electronic problems on the car which prevented me from doing one single proper outing," he said. "Then, in the early stages of the second free practice the engine lost power.

"A big thank you to the mechanics who did a fantastic job changing it in a very short time.This meant that at least I had the chance to do two problem-free outings in the afternoon and some set-up work."

The team's head of engineering Willy Rampf said the engine change had been completed in record time.

"We immediately called him in, because we did not want to run the risk of him having to stop on the track," said Rampf. "The engine was changed in a record time of 35 minutes so he was able to finish part of his programme."