Jerez, Spain: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Paul finished the opening day of Formula One testing at Jerez in Spain, second-fastest in his Mercedes-powered Sahara Force India VJM05
His fastest time of 1min 19.772secs left him just 0.102s behind former world champ Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus-Renault.
"I think it's fair to say we're all pleased with that. It was a good, solid day's work," Paul said after completing 101 laps round the 2.75-mile circuit.
"Of course it's great to finish in the top two in the timesheets, but there's still an awful long way to go before the start of the first race in Melbourne."
The productive intensity of Paul's tireless work has allowed the team to put its reserve driver, 22-year-old Frenchman Jules Bianchi, into the car for tomorrow morning's session.
Paul will take over after lunch, before German team-mate Nico Hulkenberg drives the car on Thursday and Friday.
And the Scot, returning to the circuit where he impressed the team during a 'Young Drivers' test two years ago, praised the work done by his crew.
"Our car ran faultlessly all day, straight out of the box: that's testament to all the hard work the team put in over the winter at the factory in Silverstone," he continued.
"We achieved all the evaluation and test programmes we'd planned to do today, and it's definitely given us a solid platform from which to kick-on tomorrow."
Paul warmed up for the session by running the circuit with his cousins, four-time IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti, and Le Mans racer Marino.
And Paul admitted his intense winter fitness regime, overseen by new trainer, fellow Scot Gerry Convy, was already paying dividends.
"That was a long time in the car today, and it was great to get rid of the rustiness," he said, "but I definitely felt the benefit of all that extra time in the gym."
Paul, global ambassador for whisky company Whyte & Mackay, part of the global drinks empire of team owner, billionaire VJ Mallya, wasted no time on the first day of testing.
With the sun out, but the morning temperatures struggling to nudge past four degrees, the Scot eased his car out of the garage at 8.01am, one minute into the season.
After a number of installation and evaluation laps, he clocked his quickest time early in the afternoon, 1min 19.772secs.
Paul, who then completed a couple of longer runs, assessing tyre-wear and fuel consumption, finished ahead of more established racers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was third, a further 0.447s behind Paul, while the Red Bull of Aussie Mark Webber was fourth, 0.277s adrift of Rosberg.
And while the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo was fifth, seven-time world champ Michael Schumacher could only manage sixth.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi took seventh, with former world champ Jenson Button eighth (1m21.530s) in his McLaren. Ferrari's Felipe Massa ninth (1m22.815s).
Sahara Force India, and the other nine teams taking part in the first four-day test, return to the Spanish circuit today.
See more photos of Paul in action at Jerez today