Raffaele Marciello was left smiling after making his practice debut in Formula 1 with the Sauber team.
Marciello, who became the 100th Italian to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, circulated 13 laps of the Sepang International Circuit, registering a time fast enough for 13th place, half a second behind team mate Marcus Ericsson.
The 20-year-old remained cautious about getting up to speed, but praised the efforts of his team.
“I’m really happy. It was the first time for me on this track and the first time in this car, so it was not really easy to get the confidence fast, also because I didn’t do many laps.
“But I think overall the team and me did a good job. We completed every test we needed to do.
“I was quite close to Marcus. It’s not my car, so you’re a bit cautious and you take some margin, but in the end I was close in the fast corners and in braking, so I’m happy with my driving.”
Marciello is due to receive another practice run at the Spanish Grand Prix, but maintains that his priority will be his second season of GP2, where he has joined Trident.
“The next time will probably be Barcelona, but first I need to focus on GP2,” he finished.
