The 2014 season barely at an end, just over 48 hours later the engines - including a newcomer - fired up again as preparations for 2015 got underway.

following its strong display over the weekend, and seemingly already in close talks with a potential buyer, Caterham, which only made it to the season finale courtesy of a crowd funding project, completed an impressive 101 laps, the Leafield outfit clearly not prepared to throw in the towel just yet.

Bottas, who completed a double visit to the podium for Williams at the weekend, topped the timesheets today as the Grove outfit focussed on aero evaluations, mechanical & systems work and 2015 tyre testing.

"It was a good day overall and I really enjoyed it," said the Finn. "Everything went to plan and we completed the programme we had planned. It was interesting to try the new Pirelli tyres against the old, we felt a few differences and that is knowledge that we will take forward for next year. The tyre degradation is a lot more consistent so Pirelli has done a good job with the new compound.

"We got some positive results from the systems we are testing for next year as well. It was a fun way to end the season. The FW36 has been a great car and a really good platform to build next year's car from. I have a lot of faith that we can continue to move forward and improve, I am looking forward to getting next season underway now."

"We had a very busy day predominantly testing the Pirelli tyres for next year," added Rod Nelson, the team's Chief Test and Support Engineer. "There is a new rear construction and the supersoft is a new compound and we are happy with the progress we have made so far. We have also tested a few systems for the FW37 and again, they were successful. We completed a busy programme and look forward to our final day of 2014 running tomorrow with Felipe Nasr."

At Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen spent the morning working on fine tuning different aerodynamic and mechanical configurations and concentrating on set-up work. This afternoon's programme featured a series of short and long distance runs, while working on systems management, as well as an initial evaluation of the 2015 tyres.

"It was a normal day of testing," said the Finn. "With more running time and more tyres to work with, we managed to try various solutions without having any problems. Testing next season's tyres produced positive results, but will have to wait to try them on the new car in winter testing, to get an in depth understanding of their behaviour."

Taking to the track for the Maranello outfit tomorrow is Ferrari Driver Academy driver, Raffaele Marciell who is making his debut at the wheel of the F14 T.

Whilst his title-winning teammate continues the celebrations, it was back to work for runner-up Nico Rosberg, who will be aiming to reverse the situation next season.

Today's programme focussed on aero testing, 2015 Pirelli tyres, system checks and set-up work. The Brackley team was also able to test some new parts for the 2015 regulations.

"Today was good," said the German, who completed 14 laps on his way to posting the third best time of the day, "we were looking at the tyres for next year mainly. That was a useful experience, looking at a lot of the set up for the new tyres as it could be quite different.

"It's always interesting to test the car here in such great conditions so that worked well. It was great to get back into the car again today and to do as many laps as we did is positive. You can see we're already testing parts for 2015, so I'm already looking forward to it. I will go away and reflect on a great season for the team with this incredible car and aim to come back even stronger for next year."

GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer enjoyed his first opportunity in an F1 car today as he worked with Force India, the Briton finishing fourth on the timesheets despite losing valuable track-time due to an engine issue.

"I really enjoyed my first experience at the wheel of a Formula One car," he said. "I always had the ambition to drive a Formula One car: it was surreal when I first got out of the pits, but after the first moment I was just focusing on getting the job done for the team and doing my best. Despite a few technical issues early on, in the end we managed to get back on track and have a solid hour of running, getting up to speed fairly quickly.

"What really stood out for me is the power delivery of a Formula One car, compared to what I am used to in GP2: I heard lots about it all year, but to actually experience it first hand, feeling it as I drove was impressive. Knowing the track in advance helps only a little as you get to the various corners and drive through them at completely different speeds to what you are used to; but not having to get to know the layout made it possible to just concentrate on our testing programme.

"I have learnt a lot working with the team, seeing how everyone operates, and I am really happy about today's experience. Sahara Force India is a team that gives young drivers good chances and I would love to get a role with them. They developed Paul Di Resta into a good racer, created a meaningful FP1 programme for Jules Bianchi and generally do a really good work with their reserve drivers."

"It's always exciting being part of a driver's first day driving a Formula One car," admitted Chief Engineer, Tom McCullough, "and Jolyon certainly acquitted himself well. He settled into the team very quickly and everyone was impressed with his approach to the day, especially his communication with the engineers. The early part of the day involved some aero data collection, which went to plan and should give us some useful information for the design of next year's car. It was a shame that we suffered an issue with the engine towards the end of the morning, which confined us to the garage for a large part of the day. The crew did a good job to get the car out for the final hour of running to give Jolyon some more valuable mileage."