While most of the teams, including his own, Toyota, were busy at Barcelona last week, Olivier Panis was in action at Paul Ricard in the south of France.

Between Tuesday and Friday, Panis, who having raced for the Japanese manufacturer is now test driver, completed 279 laps of the 3.59 mile circuit.

"We have had a very productive and relatively trouble-free week of testing in Paul Ricard this week," said the Frenchman at the conclusion of the 4-day test. "The weather was really nice and permitted us to carry out our entire programme and put in almost 300 laps on the long circuit configuration over the four days.

"We worked on a variety of items, but mainly on the new specification RVX-05 engine for next season. Luca Marmorini and his team have all done a fantastic job on next year's two-race engine. We were able to complete the required distance with no real issues and I am highly encouraged by the efficient operations of the whole team.

"This test marks the start of an exciting new challenge for me at Toyota and I am proud that I can continue to play such a vital role within the team. I am looking forward to my next test in a couple of weeks."