Haas Romain Grosjean was at the wheel of the HaasF1 VF-17 for the third, and somewhat methodical, day of testing ahead of the season opener in Melbourne later this month, the French driver completing a total of just 56 laps around the Circuit de Catalonia in Barcelona.
The 30-year-old worked through various systems checks in the morning and an array of setup configurations in the afternoon and unfortunately suffered a few issues that prevented him from completing his planned program.
His quickest overall time for the day was a 1:22.118, recorded on his 49th lap while using Pirelli’s P Zero Red supersoft tyres. This time placed him eighth overall.
“It hasn’t been an easy day as we had a few issues here and there,” he said. “We didn’t do as many laps as we planned to. We didn’t complete our program. On the setup, I don’t think we’ve found where we want to be exactly, so there are a few things we need to work around and understand.”
“Generally, these cars are going to be pretty cool to drive – going fast into the high speed, braking late and carrying quite a bit of speed through the corners, which is good. I think Pirelli has made a decent step with the tires, the way you can push three laps in a row. I’m just a bit disappointed we didn’t get more mileage, especially with tomorrow being the planned wet day.”
Grosjean completed a total of 260.68 kilometers in his first day of testing.
