Lotus Renault technical director Nick Chester has hailed the performance of stand-in driver Heikki Kovalainen during the first two practice sessions ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
The Finn, who is driving in place of his countryman Kimi Raikkonen, finished 13th in P1, but tore the Austin track up in P2 by recording the fifth-quickest time.
"We feel he's done a brilliant job today, particularly with all the procedures and getting used to driving a new car," Reuters quotes Chester as saying.
"We felt it might take a little bit of time, but actually straight away in P1 he was already looking after the car very well and in P2 he was fifth quickest and good long runs, I think he's done a great job today."
The 32-year-old himself remained level-headed regarding his performance.
"It was good to see that things worked out slightly better than I was perhaps anticipating but the times don't really mean much on Friday and we still need to improve for tomorrow," he told AutoSport.
Fernando Alonso was fastest in first practice, while Sebastian Vettel set the pace in second practice.
Michael Penkman
