Romain Grosjean, plagued by eternal brake problems with his Haas
The two Haas drivers didn't have the same day of testing in Sochi. Romain Grosjean was not spared by problems, particularly with his brakes, while Kevin Magnussen made progress throughout the day to finish a promising 9th in the afternoon.
The two Haas drivers experienced mixed fortunes on this first day of free practice for the Russian Grand Prix.
Firstly, Romain Grosjean once again struggled with brake issues and various other failures that hampered his progress. Only 16th in FP1 with 17 laps completed, he managed to climb to 14th place in FP2 and completed 31 laps: “We didn’t have much grip. We really struggled with the car’s balance. We had a few issues, of course, with the brakes on the longer runs. We really need to look at what we can do better in that regard. Overall, it was a very tough Friday,” stated the somewhat disheartened Frenchman.
On the other side of the garage, his teammate Kevin Magnussen was rather smiling thanks to a 12th place in the morning, a Top 10 in the afternoon, and about fifty laps completed. Constantly improving, the Dane was satisfied with his day: « I am quite happy. We spent the day without encountering any problems with the car, and we were able to complete our program, which is satisfying. We will continue to work to fix the small balance issues on the car, but they are just minor details and we are starting from a good base. »
The team’s sporting director, Günther Steiner, does not seem worried about the brake issues encountered by Romain Grosjean: « I must clarify that the brake problems we have are quite normal because they are new to us. We need to understand how they work.»
