Lewis Hamilton declared himself satisfied with his start to the British Grand Prix weekend after finishing inside the top three in both of Friday's practice sessions at Silverstone.
The McLaren driver is looking to end a run of two races without scoring points but was outpaced by team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in both of the 90-minute sessions, the Finn fastest in the afternoon having been second behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the morning.
On a day when it was confirmed Silverstone is to lose the British Grand Prix to Donington Park from 2010, Hamilton's demeanour when addressing the media appeared to reflect the gloominess of some in the paddock, although he insisted he was happy with his progress.
"Although we only tested here last week, the track felt quite different today," said Hamilton, whose afternoon session began with a trip across the grass at Club.
"The car's balance felt good despite my having a grassy moment. In the afternoon, the car felt reasonably consistent, and I feel we've got a good benchmark for the weekend ahead."
Hamilton's failure to rack up points in both Canada and France has been typical of a topsy-turvy season that has seen the 23-year-old provide flashes of brilliance with his wins in Australia and Monaco, but commit errors that were simply not a feature of his rookie year.
Hamilton finds himself 10 points behind championship leader Massa at the season's midway point but he remains bullish over his prospects for the remainder of the campaign.
"It's just a different year, it's another year," he said. "We're working as hard as we can. We're stronger this year than we were last year - we just haven't been as consistent.
"We come here with a strong feeling in the team and a strong package."
Hamilton's team-mate, meanwhile, kept a lid on his expectations for the weekend despite his solid showing today.
Kovalainen was the only driver to duck under the one minute 20 second barrier with a lap of 1min 19.989secs, although it was significantly slower than the overall fastest time (1:19.575) set by Massa in the morning session run on lighter fuel loads.
"We shouldn't get carried away with being fastest on Friday afternoon, but we've a good basis for Sunday," said the Finn.
Elsewhere, it was a good day for Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, who will contest his 14th and final British Grand Prix this weekend after confirming he will retire at the end of the season.
The Scot was ninth this morning before improving to fourth in the second session, two places behind in-form team-mate Mark Webber.
Jenson Button could manage only 17th in the opening session, the result of being restricted to just seven laps on track after a rear suspension problem was diagnosed on Rubens Barrichello's sister car, but the Englishman improved in the afternoon to finish seventh.
However, the day ended on a slightly sour note for Coulthard and Button after both picked up fines for speeding in the pit lane.
Results from practice session two of the British GP:
1. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) 1:19.989
2. Mark Webber (Red-Bull) 1:20.520
3. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 1:20.543
4. David Coulthard (Red-Bull) 1:20.589
5. Nico Rosberg (Williams) 1:20.748
6. Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari) 1:20.805
7. Jenson Button (Honda) 1:20.929
8. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:20.943
9. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) 1:20.985
10. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 1:21.002