Barcelona Test No. 1: Day 4 Recap
February 21, 2019
Date: Thursday, February 21
Location: Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, Spain
Layout: 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn circuit
Driver: Romain Grosjean (Morning) / Kevin Magnussen (Afternoon)
Laps Completed: Grosjean – 64 laps / Magnussen – 66 laps
Distance Completed: Grosjean – 297.92 kilometers (185.088 miles)
Distance Completed: Magnussen – 307.23 kilometers (190.872 miles)
Best Lap Time: Grosjean – 1:18.563 (9th overall) / Magnussen – 1:18.720 (10th overall)
Fastest Lap: 1:17.393 by Nico Hulkenberg of Renault F1 Team
Most Laps: 154 laps by Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo Racing
Thursday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya saw Rich Energy Haas F1 Team split steering duties in the Haas VF-19 between Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen on the final day of the first week of preseason testing.
Grosjean successfully completed his morning program accumulating a total of 64 laps around the 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn circuit. The Frenchman cycled through the C2, C3 and C4 Pirelli tire compounds, with a fastest lap of 1:18.563 delivered on his second and final stint on the red-marked C4 rubber – the second softest option available at the test. His lap time was good for sixth fastest at the lunch break and ninth overall on the timesheets.
Magnussen returned in the afternoon keen to build on the 59 laps he set during Tuesday’s shortened run-plan. The Dane worked through a series of runs utilizing fresh C3 yellow-walled compounds, producing a best time of 1:18.720, which placed him 10th from the 14 drivers participating Thursday. He ended a solid session with run outs on used tires, the added mileage taking his total number of laps for the afternoon to 66.
Renault F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg set the day’s quickest time (1:17.393) and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi ran the most laps (154).
Rich Energy Haas F1 Team’s total for the first week of test was 384 laps and 1787.52 kilometers (1110.528 miles), between Grosjean (198 laps), Magnussen (125 laps) and Pietro Fittipaldi (61 laps).
Teams get a four-day break before the final week of testing resumes on Tuesday, Feb. 26 where Magnussen will be back in the Haas VF-19. Grosjean returns to the car on Wednesday, Feb. 27, with Magnussen getting his last preseason test drive on Thursday, Feb. 28. Grosjean wraps the final day of testing on Friday, March 1.
Romain Grosjean:
“It was a good morning. I pretty much did the whole program we had planned, even finishing earlier than scheduled, so that’s good. There were no problems on the car, which was obviously something we were looking at after the first few days. The car still feels very good. We’re still trying things, testing things, and getting the mileage in. I think we’re fairly happy with where we are.”
Kevin Magnussen:
“I was happy to get a lot of laps in this afternoon, and more importantly, I felt comfortable in the car. We can see how the car’s improving and we enjoyed some consistent running today through both sessions. Of course, there’s plenty more work to do, but I’m looking forward to driving the VF-19 again next week. We’ve definitely got something positive to build on as we prepare for the second test.”
Guenther Steiner:
“The end was better than the beginning of our test week. We’re happy with the mileage achieved, happy with the results. We ran our full program today, the first time we’ve been able to do that this week, so it feels like we’ve got something back that we lost at the beginning of the week with our technical gremlins. They seem to be sorted now. We’re pretty upbeat and we look forward to test number two next week.”
Ends