Yamamoto delighted after home outing

"I am very happy to drive at Suzuka circuit, it was really a fantastic feeling this morning when I went out on to the circuit - I felt that this is really my home track," said the Super Aguri driver, who had previous experience of the circuit, having competed there in Formula Nippon.

"During the morning session we had a rain shower and in the afternoon the circuit conditions changed a lot, so obviously it was a bit difficult to prepare and understand the car's situation.

"Every time we went out the track conditions were different, but on the last run we were able to use the dry tyres and get the feeling of the track and car with the dry tyres. The information we collected is going to be useful data because I have heard that tomorrow is going to be a dry day.

"I can still improve on my laptimes because my last lap, which should have been my quickest, was compromised. I hope that I will be able to improve by one or two seconds tomorrow morning, but even so, I still have quite a good feeling from today."

Yamamoto, who finished a Formula One race for the first time last weekend in China, was 28th fastest in today's practice, around half a second behind teammate Takuma Sato.

Sato was also happy with his day despite the weather making life difficult for all drivers.

"Basically we completed our wet and dry runs during the changing weather conditions, which made it very difficult to evaluate the different car set-ups and meant that we could not do our back to back tyre test," he said.

"However we were able to collect a lot of useful data. The car was working well with no problems today, so it has been a good start and it is great to see the incredible support from our fans from day one."