KEY POINTS:
It will be crucial for New Zealand's Brendon Hartley to keep his car on the track rather than show outright speed when he undertakes Formula One (F1) testing with the Red Bull team in Spain overnight (NZ time).
Hartley, 19, from Palmerston North, will be testing various packages for next season's Red Bull car at the Jerez circuit and will need to give engineers accurate feedback on how the car responds with each.
He also needs to complete 300km, 70 laps or more of the 4.5km circuit, to qualify for his FIA Superlicence which will be his passport to test and race F1 machines.
His manager Peter Johnston stressed that it was not about Hartley delivering the fastest times.
"He will be doing a lot of componentry testing, and trying to complete 300km to qualify for a Superlicence which will allow him drive in F1," he said.
"He will be testing various packages such as aerodynamics and gearboxes in stints of 10-15 laps.
"It won't be about having the fastest lap - it's all about completing 300km to get his Superlicence and doing what he is told.
"If everything goes square, they can use him for proper testing next year."
Hartley reported today that weather conditions were expected to be good and he had walked the track and met with the team engineers.
"He's obviously very excited and has got a few butterflies," Johnston said.
Former New Zealand F1 ace, Chris Amon, who drove for Ferrari in the 60s, said today that the test would be a great experience for Hartley.
"It reinforces the fact he is very much part of Red Bull's future," Amon said.
"A lot of things can be electronically monitored these days but there still needs to be a certain amount of driver feedback.
"That he has got a test drive is a reflection of his ability to read a car and communicate what it is doing to the engineers.
"He will need to be giving good feedback to the engineers and the last thing for him is to have an accident."
However, Amon voiced his concern that while the test would raise Hartley's profile - "I am confident he will put in good times" - he wasn't sure what opportunities F1 will have in the next year or two "because we haven't seen the worst of everything (global economic downturn) yet".
Johnston said Hartley faced a different kind of test than Scott Dixon with Williams in 2004 after he won his first Indy Racing League title.
Dixon had needed to prove his driving ability in that test but unfortunately rain, broken suspension and other niggly problems had conspired against him then.
The last New Zealander to race in F1 was Mike Thackwell in the Canadian grand prix in 1984.
Hartley finished third in this season's British F3 championship and capped off a strong year with a fine recovery drive in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix last month, finishing third from 20th on the grid, setting a lap record along the way.
- NZPA
