Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley was off the pace during the second practice session at the United States Grand Prix in Texas on Saturday (NZ time).
After finishing 14th in the opening practice session, the 27-year-old was 17th in the second session, 3.319sec behind Lewis Hamilton who once again finished on top.
Hamilton came in with a time 1m, 34.668s, which was an improvement from his 1m, 36.335s in the first practice session.
The British driver has won the Texas race five times in his career, including the last three times.
Despite finishing lower in the second practice, the New Zealand flag eventually showed up next to Hartley's name on the driver's list, after earlier showing the Australian flag.
His teammate Daniil Kvyat was 13th after not featuring in the opening practice.
"A steep learning curve today," said Hartley after the second practice session.
"It all went pretty smoothly and I kept the car on track without making too many mistakes, so I’m quite happy.
"I didn’t really know what to expect from today because I just had so much to learn! I think I made quite a big progression throughout the day."
On Sunday (NZ time), there will be a third practice session which will be followed up with qualifying.
The race will be held on Monday Morning (NZ time).
But regardless of how Hartley does in the qualifying session, 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.
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