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Kamui Kobayashi was left frustrated that the persistent wet conditions throughout Friday practice at Suzuka meant he couldn’t make the most of his first Formula 1 practice sessions.

The 23-year-old Japanese, who has been Toyota’s reserve driver for the past two seasons, was handed a late-call up to stand-in in for the team’s regular driver Timo Glock, the German told to rest by doctors after coming down with a heavy cold and fever.

However, Kobayshai’s F1 chance at his home grand prix circuit coincided with two rain-hit sessions meaning the reigning GP2 Asia champion only managed to 16 and seven laps in the sessions respectively. The bad weather left him with mixed feelings after receiving the surprise call-up, but he was at least pleased to complete the two tricky sessions without major incident particularly as he last drove Suzuka in 2003.

"I only heard I would be driving today at 8.30 this morning when I was on my way to the circuit; it was a bit of a surprise because even though I knew Timo was sick, I wasn't expecting this,” Kobayashi said. “It was a really good opportunity for me but the conditions were pretty bad and I didn't get a lot of laps in the end. I had quite a good run in the first session and I was trying to improve step by step. It was important not to make any mistakes because I wanted to complete as many laps as possible, for me and the team. I wasn't pushing 100% due to the wet conditions but still the lap times were pretty good, especially considering I don't have much experience of this track and haven't driven here for six years.”

Kobayashi added that he was impressed by how much development work had gone onto the TF109 since he drove it last at Jerez in pre-season.

“The car feels like it has improved a lot since I last drove it in February,” he said. “It's difficult to judge in the wet but I was really impressed with how much development has been done in that time."

Toyota’s chief engineer Dieter Gass praised Kobayashi’s performance in doubly difficult circumstances, adding that if, as expected, it stays dry for the remainder of the weekend Glock won’t be at a disadvantage when he makes his anticipated return on Saturday.

“Considering the bad weather and the fact he has not tested since the beginning of the year, Kamui did extremely well; we are very pleased with his contribution,” he said. “Timo should be back tomorrow and he will not suffer from missing today's practice - unless the weather forecast changes - because it wasn't possible to do any significant preparation for dry running."

The team’s other regular driver Jarno Trulli, said he was sorry the team’s Japanese fans were denied the chance to see its cars complete some serious running, adding that he felt the TF109 was handling okay in the rain.

"There's not much to say after that,” he said. “Unfortunately for all our Japanese fans the weather severely limited our running today. I hope we have better weather tomorrow so we can put on a better show for them. The car didn't feel too bad in the wet but it is difficult to comment too much on it because of the conditions."