Trulli sixth with new engine

The engine, of which much is hoped from the French manufacturer, is a revised version of the conventional block the team reverted to at the start of the year. An all new engine is expected to be introduced later in the season.

"The day was spiced up by the introduction of several new parts on our car," said the team's head of engine operations Denis Chevrier. "We completed our programme without any problems, and the B-spec engine functioned correctly. The drivers are still giving good feedback about the engine, and we now have to work on fine-tuning the performance in order to be competitive."

Trulli and team-mate Fernando Alonso struggled to find grip initially but, like many, made progress in the afternoon as the Imola track's condition improved. "The start this morning was difficult, because the circuit was very green and the car was sliding a lot," said Trulli, "but we made progress with the set-up and things improved.

"The B-spec engine is very good, and the new aero package is definitely doing its job. For tomorrow, we will try and improve the car's overall level of grip and also the driveability: to get 100 percent out of it, we need to make it a bit easier to drive. We know what our main tasks will be tomorrow."

Alonso was nearly two tenths slower than his team-mate but is confident he will improve over the weekend: "We concentrated on choosing our tyres, and did the normal comparisons between the two types, which gave us some good results. In terms of the set-up, we still have some room to improve, as we are lacking grip and stability under braking. Taking that into account, I think we are in good shape for the rest of the weekend."