Sato upbeat despite slow start

With teammate Franck Montagny left to evaluate the softer of Bridgestone's two tyres, Sato decided to abandon worrying about swift laptimes and instead focused on set-up for the race.

"It was a good day for the team," explained Sato, who was one second slower than Montagny. "My role in today's programme was to concentrate on the race set-up as the track conditions will change considerably before Saturday morning.

"We will be back to a low-grip surface for the third free practice session as there is no running tomorrow and this is why today was our best chance to experiment with the different set-up options for the race.

"I am reasonably happy with the car balance and pace today, so I am looking forward to continuing our programme on Saturday."

Montagny, who has confirmed that he is staying with the team until at least the United States Grand Prix, said: "This morning we split the tyre choices between Taku and me. I had the easier option so that I could clock up some laps and get used to the circuit.

"They were very comfortable to drive but unfortunately they were only good for relatively few laps, so this afternoon we worked on another tyre option and I think that we found something that is more or less ok.

"The car is still a bit nervous and is quite heavy on the steering, but we had a productive day and I am finally happy with my lap time."