Mar.24 (GMM) Timo Glock is confident he will feel comfortable at the wheel this weekend despite only recently recovering from appendix surgery.

The German had to skip the final Barcelona test but he insists he will be at full speed when he practices in the 2011 Virgin car on Friday afternoon.

His surgical scar, however, is still healing, and the original seatbelt layout put painful pressure on it, he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"We have changed the angle so that I will probably not even need any cushioning," revealed Glock.

His biggest problem on Thursday at Albert Park was passing the FIA test whereby fully-restrained drivers must disembark from their cockpits in less than five seconds.

"I had to grit my teeth. With such rapid movement, it still tweaks," he said.

He is more worried about the pace of the MVR02, with Glock expecting to be significantly off the pace of main rival Team Lotus in Melbourne and beyond.

"We will have to live with it for the first three races," reported Glock. "The first update is only in Turkey.

"I guess we are one and a half seconds behind Lotus and four and a half seconds behind the top," he said.

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