Winkelhock hopeful of progress

Winkelhock, replacing Christijan Albers at the Spyker team after the Dutchman was sacked following the Silverstone race, finished at the bottom of the times in both sessions, around eight tenths of a second behind teammate Adrian Sutil.

The rookie also lost some 25 minutes in the afternoon after spinning off the track and ending up stuck in the gravel.

Winkelhock said he had enjoyed the day and was hopeful of progress tomorrow.

"Actually today was not too bad, especially considering I had only tested the car for one day this year before coming here," said the German. "I felt I went better throughout the day and I felt confident with the car after just a few laps.

"Step by step we improved, but unfortunately I was pushing too hard in the second session and span into the gravel. We lost around 25 minutes of the session, which was unlucky, but at the end of the day I was not that far off Adrian, who I think has been very quick this year.

"But I know where I am losing the time and I think I can improve again tomorrow."

Sutil was not too pleased with his day after not feeling comfortable with his car. The German finished both sessions in 21st position.

He said: "It was a hard day today. I was not particularly happy with the car as it was difficult to drive, with slightly too much oversteer, and we don't seem to be able to get the tyres to work with the set-up.

"I think it is just the characteristic of the track with its high banked corners that we are having problems with, but we'll have to work on the set-up overnight, but if we can't find an improvement we will just do our best to live with it."