Haas: It wasn’t an ideal day

Haas F1 Team report from day one of the second Formula 1 preseason test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.

Esteban Gutiérrez was held to just 23 laps in preseason testing Tuesday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya due to a fuel system issue.

Gutiérrez recorded a best lap of 1:26.661 during his third run of the morning session, set on the Pirelli P Zero White medium tire, the favored compound for the majority of the morning’s participants.

The VF-16 sat out the afternoon session as the team worked to rectify the problem with its fuel system.

Esteban Gutiérrez, Driver No. 21, Haas F1 Team: “It wasn’t an ideal day as we had some technical issues which we’re still investigating. We wanted to do a lot of running and had setup work planned. However, we’re working on our solutions and focusing on the next few days so we can get our program completed. Tomorrow is another day. The team is working hard to solve the issues and I’m confident we will. Hopefully, we can have a smoother day tomorrow.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team: “Unfortunately in the morning we experienced some problems with the fuel system. We tried to fix it but we were unable to and had to stop running just before the lunch break. We will not be able to run again until tomorrow, so a little bit of a setback. But what makes you suffer makes you stronger. We take a step back, but we hope to make two forward tomorrow.”