Robert Kubica was the man behind the wheel as the Renault team’s 2010 challenger took to the circuit for the very first time shortly after 10:00am local time yesterday. The car was running with the distinctive black and yellow livery that was shown for the first time on Sunday.

The team’s program focussed on getting the car settled and getting Robert familiar with the new systems. This was also the team’s first opportunity to experience the narrower 2010-spec Bridgestone tyres. For the afternoon the team experimented with weight distribution.

“My first day of testing the R30 went well. We had a lot of things to check on the car to make sure they were reliable and all that went smoothly with no big problems to report,” Kubica said. “Tomorrow we will start working on the balance and trying to understand the car a bit more. The narrower front tyres certainly had an impact on the car, but it’s difficult for me to judge as this is the first time I’ve driven the R30. Generally I think they will make the car understeer more in the quick corners.”

Robert will remain in the car for a second day of running today while new teammate Vitaly Petrov will get his first laps in the car on Wednesday.