Manor unsure about when it will run

Neither Roberto Merhi or Will Stevens got close to running today, both seen in street clothes during the sessions, as the team continued to work on setting up the software needed to take to the track.

Team boss Graham Lowdon admitted he was not sure if the team would be running tomorrow either, meaning it would be unable to take part in the race.

"I honestly don't know," Lowdon said.

"What I can guarantee you is that in terms of commitment and rate of problem solving, we'll be flat out."

He added: "It's not merely a software issue. There are a lot of issues, none of which are a big surprise when you consider the amount of work that has been required to get the team here in a very short space of time.

"I would say the problems we are dealing with at present are not unusual for the task we are doing, which is effectively setting up both trackside and on-car infrastructure for these cars to run.

"We've put our best effort in and we will deal with each problem sequentially and try to get through them as quickly as we can, and try and get running as quickly as we can."

Despite not having the cars ready, Lowdon said it was important for Manor to be present in Australia.

"It's really important to be here. This is the championship we are part of, and we want to be part of it from the start, right the way through to the finish."