The New Zealander was drafted into the Faenza-based team after Daniel Ricciardo was injured in a crash at Zandvoort on Friday.
The soaking wet FP3 session was his first F1 track outing of 2023 and his first experience of F1's intermediate tyres, and after a steady start he survived a spin that saw him tap the nose of the car on the barrier.
He then ended up bottom of the order in 20th in the wet Q1 session, and thus didn’t progress to the dry latter stages of qualifying.
If it stays dry on Sunday, the race will see him log his first laps on slick tyres in the 2023 AlphaTauri.
"Obviously tomorrow it's looking potentially, if it's dry, I've got to relearn everything again, because I haven't driven in the dry,” he said.
“So it's going to be a very tough race. I'm excited. At the same time, I know it's going to be challenging, and I know we've got a lot to get through. So I think we're just after a clean race.
“The first half is going to be extremely tough, especially if it is dry. I'm going to be learning everything for that first part.
"I haven't even done any long runs or anything like that. So I don't know how the tyre performs. It's going to be a big learning curve.
"By the end of the race, hopefully I'm in a much more comfortable position with the car. That would definitely be the target."
Source: Autosport