Clutch problem costs Magnussen track time in final pre-season test

Formula 1 pre-season testing ended with a flurry of hot laps, but not for Haas as a clutch problem limited Kevin Magnussen to just 17-laps of running.

Team principal Guenther Steiner has says that, despite a strong amount of running for Romain Grosjean on Friday morning, reliability problems kept Magnussen in the garage.

"Through six days of testing we’ve only had the two hiccups, today’s clutch issue and the problem with the rear wheel last Friday at the end of the first test," said Steiner.

"Overall, we’ve logged good mileage and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve worked hard to get this data and hopefully we’ll translate it into good results in Australia.”

Despite the afternoon setback, Steiner confirmed that the team had been able to complete their race simulations in the morning with Grosjean behind the wheel.

“It was a good morning with Romain in the car, we completed our full program again," continued Steiner. "We made some progress, and everything’s seemed to align over the last few days of testing.

"Kevin unfortunately had limited running this afternoon, it’s frustrating, but we take the positives from the track time he’s had in the car such as yesterday’s full race simulation."

Magnussen described the day as being less than 'not an optimal day', adding, “We were unlucky to have the clutch issue in the middle of the day. We got back out in the end; the guys got the car back together which was a really good job from them to do in the short time they had.

"I got two short runs at the end which was useful as it was on the C4 tire which I hadn’t run before. It wasn’t an optimal day in terms of running but we learned from it.”

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