The 5.340km Istanbul Park track, like the new modern venues in Malaysia, Bahrain and China, was designed by German circuit guru Hermann Tilke, this time with a more modest $120 million budget than the extensive resources that were spent in China.

“Even so, there is nothing missing,” Tilke said, as the layout received universal praise.

“It’s a very good circuit and enjoyable to drive,” Zonta said. “In the first session today we had problems because there was very little surface grip and the front tyres were not working, but that is to be expected when you run on a new track for the first time. The second session was much improved and the car felt a lot better balanced. The track is challenging with interesting medium/fast corners.”

Behind the Brazilian McLaren’s three drivers featured strongly, with test driver Pedro de la Rosa second fastest (1m26.196s), ahead of race drivers Juan Pablo Montoya (1m26.525s) and Kimi Raikkonen (1m27.274s). Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike BAR Honda (1m27.346s) and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Red Bull (1m27.578s) completed the top six, while the Toyota TF105s of Jarno Trulli (1m27.964s) and Ralf Schumacher (1m28.641s) finished the day in 9th and 16th places respectively.

“The long Turn 8 is a very interesting corner,” Trulli added, “but overall the circuit could be quite tough on tyres. More than ever at a new track, we will have to look carefully at the data before we make an educated tyre choice.”

Ralf Schumacher, meanwhile, said: “I think they have done a very good job with the track. I had a problem-free day but I did not do a traffic-free lap on new rubber, so the times don’t really tell you much. It’s always interesting to come to a new country and, as far as the racing is concerned, everyone arrives with only circuit simulations to go on. It’s about car performance obviously, but also about how the teams react to today’s information without any established data bases.”

Panasonic Toyota Racing chief race engineer Dieter Gass explained: “I think the track proved to be a little quicker than we thought because we had more grip than expected, especially in the second session. Formula 1 might have had a two-week breathing space in the middle of its intensive schedule but development is ongoing and we have more aerodynamic modifications here, in the form of a revised floor and a modified rear wing.”

Although it may not be immediately apparent from TV pictures, the new Istanbul circuit also has a number of significant changes of gradient built into the lap and there may be an interesting opportunity for overtaking under downhill braking for the tight Turn 9 chicane.

The Panasonic Toyota Racing team heads into Sunday’s 14th round of the championship in a solid fourth place in the constructors championship, 18 points behind defending champions Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and 16 points clear of the BMW Williams F1 Team.