Lewis Hamilton was given a flavour of the 'insanity' that is certain to engulf him at next weekend's British Grand Prix.
A remarkable 10,000 fans were on hand to watch the final day of a three-day test programme at Silverstone as the teams attempted to put the finishing touches to preparations for the race.
Hamilton at least delighted his army of followers by setting the fastest time of the week with a lap of one minute 19.170seconds.
But it was a major surprise to the McLaren driver to see so many on hand anyway for a day's testing that would generally only attract a few hundred spectators.
"Driving into Silverstone this morning felt really cool," remarked Hamilton, eager to revive his title hopes on his home track.
"I couldn't believe how many fans were at the track so early in the morning. They're pretty special, the most dedicated F1 supporters in the world.
"At the start of the day I was really eager to get out on the track. This place is so super-fast, it feels amazing in an F1 car.
"At lunchtime, there were so many people waiting outside my garage, it was insane!
"Whilst I couldn't say hi to all of them, their support always gives me a special lift at this place."
With McLaren testing a number of new parts on the car, Hamilton was happy enough with his day's work which saw him complete 88 laps.
"Today's test was really encouraging," added Hamilton.
"The changes we've made in the last few tests have really improved the car which feels strong around here.
"I now can't wait to be racing in front of my home crowd again."
Hamilton will be back on track next Friday for practice in front of a sell-out 65,000 crowd, followed by further sell-outs of 85,000 on Saturday for qualifying, and then 90,000 on race day.
The majority will all be hoping for a Hamilton victory following his recent problems which have seen him fail to score any points in his last two grands prix, leaving him 10 points adrift.
On a day when there were again a number of red flags for various incidents - including Timo Glock running into David Coulthard - Hamilton avoided any incidents.
Glock was second quickest in his Toyota, and the only other driver to post a sub 80-second lap this week with a time of 1:19.815.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was over a second down on Hamilton, with Fernando Alonso in his Renault fourth quickest, but 1.692secs off the pace and who suffered a mechanical issue at one point.
BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was fifth, followed by the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, Adrian Sutil in his Force India, the Honda of Rubens Barrichello and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.
Coulthard's Red Bull spent most of the day being repaired due to the damage suffered in the collision with Glock.
When he eventually emerged late in the day, the Scot managed a further four laps before smoke emerged from the back of the car to bring the session to a close.
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