Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen enjoyed his best FP1 session of the season to date when he set the seventh best time overall. Magnussen's fast lap of 1:23.670 came on his 14th tour of the circuit with his Haas VF-17 shod on Pirelli P Zero White medium tires.
He started FP1 on the hardest and most durable tire in Pirelli's range – the P Zero Orange hard and completed 11 laps before switching to the medium. He completed 11 more laps with the medium tyre to bring his total to 22 for the session.
As temperatures warmed before and during FP2, the handling of the car changed. Magnussen immediately described his car as very hard to drive with no rear grip. Progress was made as the session evolved, as he improved on his FP1 time, but other teams made progress too. In the end, Magnussen shaved .663 of a second off his FP1 time with a best lap of 1:23.007.
Kevin switched between the White medium and Yellow soft during FP2 with the soft being the grippiest tire in Pirelli's lineup, it was no surprise that it helped secure his fastest lap.
“We had a good morning and got some good data on the car,” Kevin said. “There wasn't really much useful learning in FP2. The track was very different and the car wasn't behaving as expected. We'll look into that and hopefully improve it for Saturday. It's not quite clear yet why we were happy this morning and not in the afternoon. It was a lot windier this afternoon, but then that was the same for everyone. We looked less competitive and we need to try and understand that. Hopefully, we can get back to where we know we should be.”
