In Wednesday’s Bahrain session, Haas F1 shone as the top team, with Kevin Magnussen highlighting the VF-24’s promising start.
Haas F1 emerged as the most prolific team on track in Bahrain this Wednesday. Kevin Magnussen took the wheel in the morning, and the Dane expressed satisfaction with his experience driving the new VF-24 chassis.
“I feel very good physically. It was a great morning, always exciting to get back in the car. The session was positive; we focused on long stints to address the tire issues we faced last year, which remains our priority,” Magnussen noted.
“We’re pleased with what we saw this morning, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. Everyone is eager to delve deeper into the car’s performance to see if we’ve made progress.”
“A fuel system issue was resolved, and we encountered no further problems. We missed one run, but that’s part of testing; issues are expected.”
He acknowledged that the team’s dynamics have shifted with Ayao Komatsu stepping in as Haas’s head, replacing Günther Steiner: “The atmosphere is very positive. People appreciate seeing changes within the team. It’s not that anyone had issues with Günther, who was part of the family, but we’re aiming for progress, and it was necessary.”
“As I’ve said before, every team member is part of this journey. Having an engineer at the helm in such a technically driven sport, where rapid development is crucial and who has been with the team for many years, is going to bring about change.”
“Long stints” as the day’s agenda
In the afternoon, Nico Hülkenberg took over, surpassing 80 laps, and he too was pleased to have focused primarily on tire management and wear.
“Our afternoon was mainly dedicated to long stints with heavy fuel loads, aiming to learn more about the car and experiment with the tires,” the German said.
“We knew that was a weakness last year, so it’s our focus today. Everything went smoothly. It’s positive, with no technical issues and 82 laps completed, we executed our plan fully.”
Komatsu experienced his first official day as Haas’s head and shared his thoughts: “For our first day of pre-season testing, overall, I think it was a decent day—not perfect, but a solid start.”
“We concentrated on tire management over long stints throughout the day. We’ve gathered very good data. Both drivers employed different testing strategies, and we’re seeing the outcomes. We’ve learned a lot, and I’d say we’ve achieved most of our objectives for the day.”
“For tomorrow, we have another set of ambitious goals based on what we’ve learned today. We also have some operational elements to fine-tune, just to run a bit smoother, but with 148 laps logged, we have a strong foundation to build on for Thursday’s test day.”
Haas F1 Bahrain Success. Haas F1 Bahrain Success
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