Magnussen: New car feels ‘very stable’

Editor

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen has given his first impressions of the VF-17 after an eventful first testing session in Barcelona.

The VF-17 broke down in the pit lane and then would go on to suffer damage to the front wing after Magnussen collided with the barrier at Turn Ten.

But in the 15 laps he did complete during the morning session, he can already feel a difference to last season's cars.

"It's very stable," Magnussen said.

"Especially in the high speed is where I feel the biggest difference. I still need to push the car a bit more to get a proper feeling.”

"It will be interesting to see with soft tyres later on in testing, to really feel the maximum the car can do.

"For now it’s just about getting more kilometres on the car, see if everything is working, make all the checks, stuff like that.

"Today is about a little bit of problem testing.”

Magnussen also played down the crash he suffered toward the end of the session.

“I had a big rear locking so completely locked the rears,” he added. "The same as pulling a handbrake in a road car.

"So I lost the rear and spun and brushed the wall so we had some damage in the front wing.

"No drama at all, just stuff like brake balance and brake maps is what we’re here to sort out. We learned something this morning.

"Lucky I did no other damage than that and we can carry on this afternoon."