RENAULT left the final pre-season Formula 1 test in Spain in good spirits despite a frustrating final day.

A gearbox issue prevented the Enstone-based team from taking to the track last Friday morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

But Carlos Sainz completed 45 laps in the afternoon and set the third fastest time of the day.

Renault now head to the first race in Melbourne, Australia, on March 25 in a confident mood.

Sainz said: “Most of the day was frustrating for me and the team, but this doesn’t cloud what was a productive week of testing.

“For the final couple of hours we were able to conduct some performance work with the softer tyres and the car did feel decent.

“In a way, it’s good that we had the problem we did, rather than during the season, when it could hurt us more.

“I’m feeling positive ahead of the start of the season and I can’t wait to get to Albert Park.”

l Sean Walkinshaw could not hide his delight at a productive first test ahead of the inaugural TCR UK Championship.

The Chipping Norton-based Honda Civic Type-R outfit set the second fastest time overall at Silverstone, just 0.038 seconds off the top of the timesheets.

Team owner Walkinshaw, who took on the driving duties, was thrilled with the progress made ahead of the opener at the Northamptonshire circuit on April 1.

He said: “It was a very, very productive day.

“This was our first time out this year, so it was a case of getting everyone back into the swing of things.

“It was also our first time using Yokohama tyres, so we’ve been able to get some really useful data which should help us enormously.”