F1: Final Jerez test gets off to flying start

Getting a super-licence is difficult now that testing is so heavily restricted. But Lotus test driver Fairus Fauzy became only the second Malaysian to achieve it by completing more than 300km in the new Lotus.

And in doing so, he secured his place in Formula One history: he had already partially done that by being the first person to drive a Lotus F1 car on a race track for almost two decades when he ran the car in straight line tests last week, ahead of its formal launch.

But it was when the car rolled out into the pit lane at Jerez that faces began to crack. No one is anything less than delighted to see the green and yellow car, its name proudly emblazoned on its air intake cowling and the Cosworth engine - the only relatively proven component on the car - snarling away.

Fairuz was cautious: he had a lot to do - and a lot to prove. And it was made harder by the conditions: alternately wet and dry, with greasy in between, Fairuz also had to contend with the fact that there was one component missing: power steering. The team said this was due to "supplier issues" and did not elaborate.

Lotus went out early, while teams that had tested at the circuit last week waited to see what the weather would do. That allowed him to get used to the car and the track in relative calm: and to start ticking off the 76 laps he completed, on the way passing the 300km mark. Now he just needs the FIA to grant his licence - widely regarded as a formality.

The car headed back to the pits for minor adjustments when technicians noticed it was beginning to overheat - the only problem the car suffered in its first proper shakedown.

And whilst it did not trouble the time leaders Vettel, Hamilton et al, the reality is that getting Lotus to the test has been just as big an achievement as it was for Brawn last year - more so in some respects as for much of the winter Brawn had a car, just no money to run it and no engine to put in the back. Lotus, on the other hand, had no car until a few days ago: it had on on-screen design and some wind-tunnel scale models but no actual racing machinery.

Things start to get more serious today: Heikki Kovalainen runs the car today and tomorrow and Trulli runs it on Saturday.

Virgin / Campos ran last week: they, too, have put a car together in remarkably short time and they were running yesterday, too, as was Force India which has a new car - a car it is complaining is a little too much like the Lotus for their liking given that Mike Gascoigne worked at Force India on their car before they sacked him and that the cars have been tested in the same wind tunnel. But it all sounds like sour grapes: they didn't have their car ready until yesterday.

Timo Glock's times for Virgin were disappointing: he managed only ten laps all day with a best time of 1:34.5, two and a half seconds slower than Fairuz's best time and about 21 seconds slower than Vettel.

Testing is done with one car per team per day so teams select one driver. The big surprise of the day was Vitaly Petrov in his Renault: although quick in GP2, he's also hard on the car and often somewhat ragged: he clocked a second faster than Rubens Barrichello despite doing only half as many laps.