Team testing finally got underway at Donington Park yesterday with heavy rain delaying the start of running.

A1 Team Netherlands were the first to emerge for an exploratory lap with Adrian Zaugg giving the Team South Africa car a shakedown. John Martin was in the Team Australia car while Edoardo Piscopo was in action for A1 Team Italy.

The A1GP test car, which has now completed 7,446-kilometres testing, was also out on track with Thomas Biagi at the wheel.

Fairuz Fauzy ended the day quickest for A1 Team Malaysia, despite the bad conditions, posting a time of 1:35.250 in the new car.

Fauzy commented: "This morning we did an installation lap and everything was fine with no problems. The car was very reliable which was surprising straight out the box, so that is a positive sign for us. It's a totally different car to last year, especially with the Michelin tyres, carbon brakes, higher downforce and more powerful engine. It was fun to drive. I was very impressed with the downforce of the car and the grip in the wet."

Adrian Zaugg, who won twice last season and piloted South Africa to a fine fifth place in the championship, said: "It was quite difficult to compare the new car with the old one, because it was wet this morning, but I really liked it.

"The car cornered well in both slow and high speed corners. It is a very good car, and had really good grip for the wet conditions, particularly under braking. We only managed a total of 20 laps in the time available and weren't really too concerned about lap times. We have another day of testing on Thursday and, hopefully, the track will be dry and we'll be able to get a better idea of the new car's capabilities."

Team Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen added: "It was a useful and fun first day. For me it was the first time driving the Ferrari and it was a good experience. Unfortunately the track was really wet, but we were able to start working on the car straight away. It was the first time that I had to brake with my left foot, something I have never done before. But that felt completely natural after one lap, so that went quite easy. All in all I felt at home right away. Apart from that you feel that the car has got a lot more downforce than the old car, even on a wet track. This will be quite spectacular at Zandvoort I think, because of the many high-speed sections there.

"I hope that Thursday will be dry. The car has got a lot of electronical systems, such as launch control and anti-stall control. We had some issues with the electronics, but that's normal with a first test. We will now prepare everything for Thursday. I am really looking forward to it. Then we will try out some more things, such as the powerboost. The car not only looks good, but it is very much fun to drive. It is a really big step forward, both for drivers and spectators. There are also a number of new faces in our team and the interaction is going very well."

"Because of the pouring rain we were not able to do a lot of driving today," added team boss Jan Lammers. "But it gave us the opportunity to check and set up a number of systems. We hope that Thursday will be dry, then we should be able to increase the pace. We expect the new Powered by Ferrari car to be some five or six seconds per lap faster at Zandvoort than the old car. For a part that is due to the difference in downforce. The old and new car have a similar ‘static' weight, but when you drive the new car is pushed down on the track much more and thus has got much more grip."