F1 testing: Haas behind schedule as turbo problems curtail running
Newcomers now planning hour-by-hour after long turbo delays
Saturday 5 March 2016 10:52, UK
F1 newcomers Haas admit their plans for the remainder of testing now have to be worked out on an hour-by-hour basis after running into reliability woes at the second Barcelona test.
F1's newest team earned plaudits for the early pace and reliability shown by their all new VF-16 car at last week's opening test after they completed over 800 miles.
However, the opening two days of the second and final test have been blighted by problems - a lack of running team owner Gene Haas labelled "very frustrating".
A fuel pump problem restricted the team to just 23 laps on Tuesday before an issue with a newly-installed turbocharger meant the team were on track for just one lap on Wednesday.
Now on the back foot ahead of the final two days of winter running, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said it was crucial the car racked up the miles before Melbourne.
"We just have to try to get a race simulation in and as many laps as possible," Steiner said. "So that is the main aim.
"And however tomorrow goes we will see what we do on Friday. Now it's more of an hourly plan than a daily plan. We need to change track every hour depending how we get on."
Steiner is hopeful Haas have solved the turbo problem and will fire up their car again in the garage on Wednesday evening.
"We changed the turbo last night and this morning when we fired it up there was an anomaly," he said. "Then we went out for the installation lap and realised the turbo didn't do what it should be doing.
"We are confident we have analysed the problem and we have it fixed, but you never know what is coming next."
Despite the setbacks, the Haas team boss said they remained both optimistic and enthusiastic ahead of their race debut in Australia later this month.
Asked if they would revise their targets for Melbourne, "No - we are still ambitious!
"We want to get on as much as possible. You cannot take your ambitions down. Even if we don't get to run tomorrow we will try to still do our best on Friday and then try to do our best when we get to Melbourne.
"We still want to get there being respectable and show [well]."
