Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Friday Recap

FP1 saw Pietro Fittipaldi return behind the wheel of the VF-22 alongside Kevin Magnussen – the Brazilian contesting the second of his two FP1 stints this season as part of the mandated ‘Rookie Driver’ outings – Mick Schumacher vacating his seat for the opening session.

Fittipaldi enjoyed a solid run logging 26 laps across the 60-minute session utilizing both the Pirelli P Zero White hard compound and the Red soft rubber. A best lap of 1:28.204 was delivered on the soft tire to place Fittipaldi P16 on the timesheet.

Magnussen’s run was compromised by a damaged floor but the Dane delivered a fastest lap of 1:28.142 on the softs for P15 having started his day on the Yellow medium rubber.

Mick Schumacher was back for FP2 as the sun set across Yas Island and the lights fired up around the circuit as the evening session got underway. The German wasted no time in getting into the run program – sampling medium tires to start before a qualifying sim on the softs – delivering a 1:26.839 lap for P17.

Magnussen started off on the hard compound before his switch to softs. A 1:26.915 best lap placed Magnussen P18 behind his teammate – his VF-22 once again suffering floor damage in the session. Both cars headed to the checkered flag on high-fuel runs to cap Friday’s track action.

Haas F1 Team ran a total of 97 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 45 by Magnussen, 26 by Schumacher and 26 by Fittipaldi.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“I don’t think we had the pace today that we did last weekend, but you know it’s only Friday, we can still find it in the car and hopefully be better tomorrow. It’s all about the long run anyway, we want to qualify well but the important fight is on Sunday, so the focus is getting the car in the right window for that. You might always see surprises but we’re trying to prepare as well as we can for qualifying and the race and we’ll see what happens.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“I didn’t do FP1, I only drove in FP2 so it was good to get to know this car on this track – it felt interesting. I think we were a bit slower than what we would’ve hoped for but we have some time now to look at it and analyze what we need to change to be a bit more competitive tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll be able to get out of Q1 and be competing in Q2.”

 

Pietro Fittipaldi, Driver No. 51, Haas F1 Team

“I always adapt super quick with this Formula 1 car. I think the style of driving with this Formula 1 car is kind of my strong point because I always brake late, I’m very confident and really aggressive. We had a great run where we completed all the laps and were quick as well. The most important thing is to execute all the things I need to with the team, learn as much as I can, but then as well show performance and that’s what I want to do - show the team what I can do.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“It wasn’t the easiest session today with damage in both sessions to the floor of Kevin’s car. Pietro did a good job this morning because the last FP1 he did he didn’t get many laps in, only nine of them. This morning was a lot more productive and I think it’s good for him to be in the car to be ready for the test on Tuesday. Mick got back in for the afternoon, and he just needed a few laps to get used to the track and then he came back with a good performance. Kevin’s fast lap was compromised by floor damage and traffic but I think we can do better than we did today and we look forward to tomorrow.”