Pre-season testing recap: Week 2, Day 3

Date: Friday, February 28

Location / Layout: Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, Spain / 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn circuit

Driver: Romain Grosjean (AM) / Kevin Magnussen (PM)

Laps: GRO 86 laps / MAG 29 laps

Distance: GRO 400.33 kilometers (248.712 miles) / MAG 134.995 kilometers (83.868 miles)

Best Lap Time: GRO 1:17.037 (11th overall) / MAG 1:17.495 (13th overall)

Fastest Lap: 1:16.196 by Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes

Most Laps: 182 laps by Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari

Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen split driving duties in the VF-20 on the final day of pre-season testing Friday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya.

Grosjean squared away a busy morning run plan, which included a series of stints sampling both the Pirelli C3 and C4 compounds before a longer run to complete 86 laps before the break. The Frenchman set the team’s fastest outright lap in testing at the Spanish track, his best time of 1:17.037 – set on the softer C4 tire, was good for 11th from the 14 participating drivers.

Magnussen was back behind the wheel of the VF-20 in the afternoon but a clutch issue 16 laps into his outing sidelined the Dane to the garage for most of the session. A stellar effort from the Haas crew enabled Magnussen to get back on track 25 minutes out from the checkered flag. Shod on the C4 rubber he clocked a best time of 1:17.495 to place 13th.

Haas F1 Team recorded a total of 676 laps across six days of pre-season testing for 3146.78 kilometers (1954.992 miles). The mileage was divided between Grosjean (399) and Magnussen (277).

The 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship begins with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix March 15 in Melbourne.

Romain Grosjean, Car No. 8

“From my side it was a good morning, we completed a lot of testing. It’s the last day so everyone’s going for a bit of performance – which is fun. We managed to get a longer stint in at the end just to see how the car behaves and evolves. I’m very happy with the job everyone’s done in testing. We need to put all our best tools together now to prepare for Melbourne.”

Kevin Magnussen, Car No. 20

“We were unlucky to have the clutch issue in the middle of the day. We got back out in the end; the guys got the car back together which was a really good job from them to do in the short time they had. I got two short runs at the end which was useful as it was on the C4 tire which I hadn’t run before. It wasn’t an optimal day in terms of running but we learned from it.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal

“It was a good morning with Romain (Grosjean) in the car, we completed our full program again. We made some progress, and everything’s seemed to align over the last few days of testing. Kevin (Magnussen) unfortunately had limited running this afternoon, it’s frustrating, but we take the positives from the track time he’s had in the car such as yesterday’s full race simulation. Through six days of testing we’ve only had the two hiccups, today’s clutch issue and the problem with the rear wheel last Friday at the end of the first test. Overall, we’ve logged good mileage and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve worked hard to get this data and hopefully we’ll translate it into good results in Australia.”