Unfortunately, Panciatici’s Russian team-mate Daniil Move saw his race end at half-distance with a collision in which his rear suspension was damaged.

With ambient temperatures in the thirties and track temperatures in the forties, the Hungaroring, close to the city of Budapest, has given the teams a different challenge to what they have experienced during most of the 2010 season, which has been mostly wet  for the Formula Renault 3.5 teams.

Junior Lotus Racing team manager Peter Crolla said: “It certainly makes a nice change from the shocking weather we’ve had this year! Nelson has found a real comfort zone in the car in all conditions. He’s happy in both the low-downforce aerodynamic configuration that’s mandatory in Saturday races, and with the standard downforce.

“Qualifying was a difficult session. There was a red flag early on, but Nelson drove very well to put in a strong lap for sixth on the grid.

“He drove an intelligent race and resisted some strong pressure from behind, kept his composure through an early safety car, then maintained a consistent pace and kept his head to defend well.”

Unfortunately, the qualifying red flag hampered Move’s challenge. “Daniil lost some momentum,” said Crolla. “His pace was good enough for fifth or sixth at that point in the session , however as the session progressed Daniil found his tyres past their best and 18th was the best that he could achieve given the circumstances.”

Attention now turns to the weekend’s second race, which features a return to standard downforce and also has mandatory pit-stops.

“To gain a place on an already strong qualifying performance was very satisfying for the team and Nelson,” said Crolla. “From our testing pace on Friday we’re confident that both drivers have a good car beneath them for race two.”