Sato laments troubled start

"We had a difficult start to the weekend today as we suffered a few minor problems and could not complete as much of our planned programme as we had hoped," said Sato, who completed only nine  laps in the morning session in Melbourne.

Things were better in the afternoon, though, and he covered 27.

"However, we did complete our Bridgestone tyre comparison, which is very important, and on a more positive note we have made a good step forward with our aero package as the new front wing is working well.

"Now we have to work hard over night to conquer some of our issues so that we can make more progress during our running tomorrow morning," added the Japanese, who has completed the first two races of the season for his team.

Sato ended up 27th quickest, just ahead of teammate Yuji Ide, who was making his debut at the Australian circuit.

"It was my first time driving at this track so I concentrated on memorising the layout during the first practice session," Ide said.

"Unfortunately a flat-spot on one of my tyres during the afternoon session meant that the car was not so easy to drive and I also spun on a new set of tyres when I was running on quite a good lap, but in the end I was able to complete quite a long run and my time was okay.

"We will be working hard tonight as I want to be able to set up the car properly and improve my driving style for tomorrow."