Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley's had his first taste of Formula 1 action in Saturday's (NZ time) opening practice session at the United States Grand Prix in Texas.
The 27-year old was 14th fastest, almost three seconds off the pace set by championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who had a time of 1m, 36.335s.
If Hamilton wins Monday's (NZ time) race and Sebastian Vettel finishes lower than sixth, the British driver will secure his fourth championship.
In another twist of events, during Hartley's practice session the Australian flag appeared next to his name on the driver's list, which will likely frustrate New Zealand motorsport fans as Hartley is the country's first Formula 1 driver since 1984.
Hartley is also still coming to grips with the single-seater, spending the most time out of all the drivers on the track and getting small adjustments made to his seat and helmet.
Fellow Toro Rosso driver Sean Gelael was 17th, 4.071 seconds behind.
Daniil Kvyat will replace Gelael in the second practice session which gets underway later today.
But regardless of how Hartley does in his practice and qualifying sessions, he will be starting at the back or the grid after Toro Ross picked up a penalty after they opted to change his car's power unit ahead of the Grand Prix, which earned them an automatic grid penalty.
Newshub.
