By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief
Romain Grosjean propelled Haas F1 Team to a new benchmark on the final day of preseason testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The 31-year-old Frenchman completed 181 laps on Friday around the 2.892-mile, 16-turn road course – the most among the 12 drivers. The strong outing comes after teammate Kevin Magnussen posted the previous best a day prior with 153 total laps.
The day’s activities left Grosjean with a remarkable 523.452 miles run, while also posting the fifth-best time at 1 minute, 18.412 seconds in the No. 8 Ferrari-powered Haas VF-18. Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time on the day with a 1:17.221.
Overall, the combined laps from the Haas F1 Team accounts for 695 total laps, which translates to 2,010.57 miles.
“It’s been a long day, but it’s been brilliant,” said Grosjean, who posted his best time on Pirelli P Zero Purple ultrasoft tires.
“We did a lot of work with the car, which is really good. I managed to get a lot of laps in on the last day, which we missed earlier on in the test. The team did a great job. We’ve got a lot of knowledge now for Melbourne. I’m looking forward to being there.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal of Haas F1, was positive about how much has been gained over the final two days of Formula 1 preseason testing.
“I think we got as much out of the last two days as we could,” said Steiner. “Today, we got a race distance in during the morning and another one in the afternoon. That’s what you want.
“The more you run, the more you learn.”
The 2018 Formula 1 season officially kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne March 23-25.
