Valtteri Bottas may have been the quickest of the four drivers in action at Silverstone on Thursday but all eyes were on Ma Qing Hua.
Ma made his Formula One debut on the first day of the Young Driver test behind the wheel of a HRT F112.
However, it was not only a first for the 24-year-old, it was also a first for China as he became the first driver from his country to drive a Formula 1 car at an official event.
"We're very happy to have given Ma this opportunity and also very satisfied and proud of how it went. We've got a lot of trust in him and he has responded by doing a good job," said HRT team boss Luis Pérez-Sala.
"We've followed him for a long time and since he joined our programme he's proven his ability and work capacity. And today he showed it once more with an excellent job.
"It's not easy to drive a Formula 1 car and he made no mistakes. We want to take things one step at a time with him and this test was for Ma to have his first real contact with a Formula 1 car at every level.
"He did a great job and now we have to continue working so that he can continue to progress in his journey towards Formula 1."
Ma, though, did prop up the timesheets, finishing in fourth place, 6.393s down on Williams' Bottas.
The Finn, however, has a lot more experience as he also contest Friday practice sessions for Williams at grand prix weekends.
He posted a best time of 1:31.436, which put him five seconds up on Marussia's Max Chilton.
The GP2 driver was in action on Thursday morning with his running cut short when an air valve system sensor on the engine malfunctioned.
He finished ahead of Rio Haryanto, who replaced him in the Marussia for the afternoon.
Times
01. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:31.436
02. Max Chilton Marussia 1:36.558 + 5.122
03. Rio Haryanto Marussia 1:37.404 + 5.968
04. Ma Qing Hua HRT 1:37.829 + 6.393
Related Links
Gallery: Silverstone Young Driver Test
