Alfonso Celis thinks his two days driving for Force India in testing this week will set him in good stead for his Friday practice sessions later in the year.
The Mexican driver was signed to the team last year to a development driver role. As part of that, he tested for the team at the end-of-season Pirelli tyre test and was given two days behind the wheel at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, completing 133 laps in the process.
He is also set to make seven Friday practice appearances in 2016 and Celis believes his time behind the wheel this week will prepare him well for that responsibility.
"I am really pleased overall with the performance with the runs and the plans that we have accomplished, with the reliability on the car," he said. "It has been an amazing opportunity, an amazing week in general. I think we have developed the car a lot so we are really pleased.
"These days have been really helpful for me. It is the path and direction for me to prepare the Fridays so I am confident that I am ready to take part in a Friday ... As a driver it is just my third time in the car so there are many ways. I am positive and I am really focused to develop myself so there are millions of ways to improve myself. I am really looking forward to that."
The 19-year-old says he is happy not to have made any errors that may have prevented Force India from taking valuable data.
"It is obvious in the first days we don't have a lot of spares or parts, they are still to be received here so I had the pressure of not crashing or going to the gravel. We are still developing the only car we have, so there is a bit of pressure to keep always a margin to avoid mistakes. That is the most important thing -- first the car never broke down, reliability is very good and I haven't put it in the gravel. Two very positive things and we achieved the data we wanted to gather."
Celis also expects to gain even more time in the car this season.
Asked if he will appear at any of the in-season tests, he replied: "I don't know yet, the team will let me know soon -- but probably."
He also said he is yet to learn which races he will be making his Friday appearances at.