Incredibly, Christian Klien very narrowly missed out on driving in Spain's first free practice session on Friday as the Austrian's FIA Superlicence - required by all drivers to take part in Formula 1 sessions - was finalised as little as ten minutes before the morning session began.
With Sakon Yamamoto confirmed as an official test and reserve driver for the Murcia-based Hispania team last month, former Jaguar and Red Bull racer Klien's confirmation arrived earlier this week.
However, although Team Principal Colin Kolles felt that placing a more experienced driver in Karun Chandhok's cockpit would help the rate development for the debutant team, Klien's Barcelona outing very nearly didn't happen at all.
"It was a bit exciting today as I got my Superlicense only ten minutes before the start of the first practice session!" 27-year-old Christian explained. "Fortunately, everything had been prepared perfectly and then I was allowed to jump into the car.
"I had 90 great minutes in the car. It was my first time in a Formula 1 car since January last year and felt perfect right away; I was able to feel the limits of the car and posted constant times, which will help the engineers - I was able to give them important feedback to improve, in terms of setup, and my work with top teams will help them."
Kolles was also relieved following the dramatic events of the morning. "We want to thank (governing body) the FIA and (commercial rights holder) Mr. Ecclestone for their support to make it possible," he began. "In that short period of time, Christian got his Superlicense and consequently was allowed to drive this morning."
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