"It was worth it." That was how Romain Grosjean summed up his Saturday, one that saw him called back to Spain at short notice after Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was taken ill.
The Frenchman had only headed back home to Paris on Friday - Grosjean wearing, it has to be said, a glum expression after his allotted two days in the cockpit of the team's E21 were spoiled by bad weather.
With the Circuit de Catalunya finally basking in sunshine 24 hours later, the chance to complete another 46 laps in something approaching representative conditions was a bonus for Grosjean, who is staying in Barcelona this time in case Raikkonen fails to recover sufficiently for Sunday.
Describing how his day started, the 26-year-old said: "I was a bit lazy this morning. I was supposed to be in bed until 9:30 or 10 to do personal stuff in Paris but I woke up a bit earlier, about 8:30, switched on the mobile phone and had a message from (Lotus Track Operations Director) Alan (Permane) saying, 'Can you call me back? Kimi isn't well'.
"It wasn't easy because it's Saturday and there's not thousands of flights."
Rather than catch a scheduled flight, the largesse of a friendly sponsor saw Grosjean jetting back to Barcelona. Arriving back at 1:50pm, he was in the car little more than an hour later after reserve driver Davide Valsecchi had earlier stepped into the breach.
"It's always good," continued Grosjean, who ended the day tenth fastest. "The more time you spend in a car, the better it is. The sun is here today and it makes a bit of a difference - it gives me at least a try in the (right) conditions.
"Hopefully, Kimi gets better. We don't know yet. But for me it was worth it because it's better than doing nothing at home."
