Andretti eager to move up the grid

The IndyCar racer finished 15th on his series debut in the sprint race at Chengdu two weeks ago, but improved to score points for eighth place in the feature race.

He finished the first day of practice for this weekend's rounds at Sepang in 13th place, and is aware that he needs to make progress if he is to make the most of the opportunity.

"It's brilliant, the physical side of it is awesome, learning in a car that isn't working so well is awesome because it all helps you, and the competition is unbelievable," Andretti told autosport.com.

"But the only unfortunate thing about it is that people are watching. It's not like it's a closed test where I can just drive round and round to get used to it.

"It's crunch time for me, I need to win some races soon and I'm going to get to the point where I need this thing to start working for me.

"It's the same in the states, I've had a lot of bad luck in the last couple of years and when that comes back around to my side, and we get some consistency, we're going to be there."

He says both he and the Andretti Green Racing team are still getting used to the A1GP car, which has little in common with the IndyCar machine they are used to.

"In general, we're just still really new with this car," he added. "I know everyone else is too, but I think that if you're used to the way of handling and working with the old car, that makes it a little bit easier.

"This is 180 degrees different from IndyCar in what the car needs mechanically. For example, at Chengdu there are a lot of bumps, so we'd have thought you need the car soft so you have grip. But here you need it stiffer to generate the tyre temperature to get them to work.

"It's just very different, but we're working on it."