Haas F1 Team had a somewhat complicated first day of Barcelona F1 testing the VF-22, Nikita Mazepin losing out on track time due to a water-cooling leak and later a damaged floor delaying Mick Schumacher's outing.
At the end of the day, Schumacher only managed 23 laps, setting the 12th fastest time albiet 3.3 seconds down on the top time set by McLaren' Lando Norris and Mazepin a further 1.5 seconds slower than his teammate, he was 15th on the time screens. Not a good day for the American team.
More alarming, than the teething problems on the car, was that the team's two drivers combined to do only 43 laps all day, compared the reigning F1 World Champion who single-handedly did 147 laps during the course of Wednesday in Barcelona.
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner summed up his team's first day in Spain:“Well starting off, it’s a positive to be back at the track and finally seeing the VF-22 come to life. The entire team has worked incredibly hard through our car build to get us to this point.
"Unfortunately, it’s been one of those days where a few small issues end up costing you considerable time in the garage. So, there’s not necessarily a lot to take from today other than. hopefully, some of our issues are over and done with.
"All being well tomorrow we’ll have greater reliability and we can get into a more thorough run-plan for both Mick and Nikita," added Steiner.
With the second least laps on his chart, all day - only 20 - Schumacher added: "Nothing to be concerned about – the smile isn’t as big as it could be as we would’ve liked a three-digit number on the board."
Mazepin: Unfortunately we didn’t get too many laps in
Mazepin was first to drive the Uralkali Haas F1 Team VF-22 in Formula 1 testing on Wednesday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya. The 22-year-old endured a frustrating morning session having been limited to just 20 laps – the discovery of a cooling leak and subsequent fix costing valuable track time.
Mazepin returned to the circuit for a handful of laps before lunch setting his best lap time of 1:24.505s on the Pirelli C2 tire compound.
The Russian said afterwards: “Firstly, it was great to get out. The whole team is coming alive, and the car has been born. It felt nice because the set-up and the way you run the car during these days is different to how we ran it on filming day.
"Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many laps in – we had a cooling leak which prevented us from doing more laps – but it’s just the beginning. I think the car is looking strong when figuring out the balance.
"Everyone is learning about this very new car and there are some things that don’t quite match the simulations, but we’re quick learners!” added Mazepin.
Schumacher: It’s now about getting the laps we lost today in tomorrow
Haas reported that Schumacher enjoyed his first taste of the VF-22 mid-afternoon but like his teammate earlier in the day, much of his session was spent waiting in the wings – a damaged floor requiring a lengthy repair in the garage.
The 22-year-old returned to the track in the final hour of the day to set the majority of his 23 laps – recording a fastest time of 1:22.962 on a set of the Pirelli C3 tires.
Schumacher runs first in Thursday’s morning session in Spain with Mazepin back in action behind the wheel of the VF-22 in the afternoon.
Of the lost time, Schumi III took it on the chin: “Nothing to be concerned about – the smile isn’t as big as it could be as we would’ve liked a three-digit number on the board – but those things happen. It’s now about trying to get the laps that we lost today in tomorrow.
"We’ll have to wait and see what Bahrain looks like but at least we’re developing the car this year and can react to things, making things better.”
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