Jolyon Palmer says winter testing has been "a little bit disastrous" for him on a personal level, despite his optimism in Renault's 2016 car.
Palmer was in the car for Renault's first two days of winter testing as it suffered a number of reliability issues, which limited him to 79 laps. He then watched new team-mate Kevin Magnussen surpass a century of laps for four days in a row before further issues limited him to 177 laps over Thursday and Friday.
The rookie driver feels confident in how Renault's car recovered after his early setback.
"It has been a little bit disastrous to be honest. I didn't think we have done 200 laps for four days with four hours left," said Palmer, before adding 50 laps on Friday afternoon. "That is obviously not what you want when you are a rookie trying to turn up in Melbourne and do a good job, but the car at least is reasonable. The base line car."
Palmer hopes his fortunes will be reversed in Melbourne when he prepares for his maiden grand prix.
"I think everything will be ready. In Melbourne everything will be different -- you are in to a race weekend, and everything is going to be ready. We know that we have got some more coming [on the car] which is exciting, and I am already looking forward to Friday in Melbourne when suddenly we will see 22 cars on track, and on Friday we will be closer to knowing where everybody is in terms of performance."