Overview

Date: Friday, March 4

Location: Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya

Layout: 4.655-kilometer (2.89-mile), 16-turn circuit

Drivers: Romain Grosjean / Esteban Gutiérrez

Laps Completed: 91 (66 by Grosjean, 25 by Gutiérrez)

Distance Completed 423.60 kilometers (262.99 miles)

Best Lap Times: 1:25.255 by Grosjean / 1:25.422 by Gutiérrez

Fastest Lap: 1:22.852 by Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari)

Most Laps: 142 by Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari)

Rundown

In the final day of preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya – Barcelona, Haas F1 Team recorded 91 laps with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez sharing driving duties. It was the organization’s highest single-day lap count of the two tests spread over 12 days (Feb. 22-25 and March 1-4) at the 4.655-kilometer (2.89-mile), 16-turn circuit. In total, Haas F1 team banked 474 laps in preseason testing, with 281 laps last week and 193 this week.

Grosjean was originally slated to drive the VF-16 throughout the last day of testing, but due to Gutiérrez’s limited running earlier in the week, Gutiérrez was afforded additional seat time during the afternoon session.

Grosjean totaled 52 laps prior to the lunch break, delivering a fast lap of 1:25.255 on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tire. He added 14 circuits before handing the VF-16 over to his teammate. Gutiérrez then clicked off 25 laps, with his stints including outings on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft and Red supersoft compounds. The latter option allowed Gutiérrez to set a best lap of 1:25.422 in the final 30 minutes of testing.

Romain Grosjean, Driver No. 8, Haas F1 Team

“Our final day has been very different from the previous days. It’s been a very positive day for all of us. The guys did an amazing job last night to understand the problem with the brake-by-wire. They got it solved for today. It was a big relief to be able to drive the car and drive it well. There are still a few places where we can improve massively, but we’re working on it. I’m looking forward to getting to the first race now. We can fine tune the car there. Let’s go racing as Gene (Haas) would say.”

Esteban Gutiérrez, Driver No. 21, Haas F1 Team

“It was great to be back out on track for the last day of the test. I felt we were able to find some direction, which we were pursuing, as well as finding some solutions to a few issues we’ve had. Overall, it was a great experience to be part of a new team. Now I feel we’re ready to go racing. I’m very grateful to my team. They’ve worked relentlessly over the last few weeks and the results have clearly paid off. After getting to know the car, the next step is to go back to what I love, which is competing and racing. We all share the same passion. I look forward to Melbourne.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“It was definitely a better day today than the last three days. We made a lot of progress. We sorted our problems from yesterday with our brake-by-wire and got some laps in. This was our last day testing before Australia. We’re as well prepared as we can be at this moment. We had a driver swap this afternoon to allow for some setup changes. It gave Esteban a few more laps before going to Melbourne. It’s been a challenging month. We put the car together, went to the test – it’s been day-and-night work. Thanks go to the whole team. They’ve done a fantastic job. See you in Australia.”

Next Up

Haas F1 Team makes its competitive debut in two weeks with Round 1 of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Practice begins March 18, qualifying takes place March 19 and the race runs March 20.