Max Chilton believes he has reasons to be positive after getting a feel for his new Marussia MR02 at Jerez this week.
The British rookie was in action for the first time on Tuesday when a suspected suspension issue sent him hurtling into the barriers at Dry Sack after just 29 laps.
His second day, though, was much more productive as the 21-year-old completed 78 laps despite a few on-board electronics issues in the morning.
Chilton also lowered his best time from Tuesday's 1:24.176 to Thursday's 1:21.269.
"I'm really pleased with how my second day in the car has gone and I'm happy to have been able to reveal a little more of the car's potential," he said.
"Obviously these are very early days for all of us, but there are some very positive signs and I'm excited about that.
"The race runs went very well and we're starting to understand how the 2013 tyres are going to wear.
"Having completed the long run work we needed to, it was nice to have a new tyre run at the end of the day to explore more of the car's performance.
"What we found was very encouraging and this has given the Team a nice boost at this early stage of the MR02's development."
