Sato happy just to run in Melbourne

The Japanese squad's future was in doubt for some time after missing most of pre-season testing, but a last-minute deal secured their presence in Australia.

Their lack of testing and spare parts meant, however, that the team had a very limited programme today, covering very little mileage.

Sato finished over four seconds off the pace, but was glad to be in action.

"I am pleased to have started our first day of the 2008 season," said Sato. "Of course we had some issues as our winter preparations were not completed and we had to evaluate many things on our very first day.

"But it was good to see the cars running and that the team is up to speed. There is a lot of work to do, naturally, but overall today was good."

Teammate Anthony Davidson had a worse day and could only manage eight laps in the afternoon after hitting trouble.

"It was a difficult Friday. We had planned a limited programme anyway, but then we had to cut short our run in the afternoon. I hope that we can get to grips with the car more tomorrow and move on from there."