Zonta returns to cockpit

The 22-year-old is one step nearer to his F1 return after testing his British American Racing car for the first time in nearly two months.

The Brazilian, who replaces deputee Mika Salo, climbed back into the cockpit of his BAR Supertec 01 after being forced to miss three rounds of the World Championship.

Zonta has been recovering from a foot injury, which he sustained in an accident during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

'The past seven weeks have been very frustrating for me,' he said.

'It's a little difficult to comment on this test as we have only been able to complete a few laps, but I can already see that the technical development since Brazil has made a lot of difference to the handling and driveability of the car. It seems considerably faster now than it was before.'

The two-day Silverstone session formed part of the team's preparations for next weekend's Canadian Grand Prix and intended for Zonta to familiarise himself with technical developments that have been made on the car since his last race.