Fairuz Fauzy is not giving anything away about whether he might make more appearances as Lotus’ Friday driver in the 2010 season.
In front of his and the new team’s home crowd at Sepang, the 27-year-old covered 19 laps in the green T127 car, with race regular Heikki Kovalainen sitting out the 90-minute opening practice session.
It had been rumoured that the Malaysian would also appear in Bahrain and Australia, and it is now rumoured that he may make more appearances later this year.
"Right now, I just know what I’m supposed to do and I want to do it well. I’m not thinking about anything else," he is quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
Fauzy and Lotus’ presence at Sepang on Friday, however, did not seem to have had a significant impact on poor spectator numbers, despite the track being open free of charge to the public for the first day of practice.
He urged his countrymen to support Malaysia’s new presence in F1.
"We have a Malaysian team now and now is the time they should come and feel a part of this whole thing," he said.