Grosjean pleased with first day

Romain Grosjean was content after his first full day as a Formula One racing driving on Friday as the Swiss-French pilot wound up in a competitive thirteenth position for the Renault team in Valencia. The 23-year-old is now hoping to make the second round of qualifying on Saturday.Having accepted the role for Renault race seat after Nelson Piquet left the team, Grosjean gave up his GP2 title attack to achieve the goal of entering F1. "The day has gone pretty well," he said after the weekend's first two practice sessions.

"Your first time in a new car is always tricky but I did my best and having Fernando (Alonso) next to me meant I could see how he approached the sessions and that helped me a lot."

For the record, Piquet achieved ninth place in the same session last year although Romain is confident in moving forwards. "I think today I have made good progress and tomorrow I will aim to continue in the same way," he added.