Esteban Gutierrez says that the new Haas Formula 1 car is better than he expected it to be after completing his first test in the VF-16 in Barcelona on Tuesday.
Gutierrez took over from Romain Grosjean for the second day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing 79 laps en route to sixth place in the final standings.
Gutierrez admitted that the car produced by the debutant team was better than he expected it to be, having immediately got a positive feeling from it on his installation lap.
"To be honest, it’s better than what I expected," Gutierrez said.
"The first installation lap, I was quite impressed. It seems that we have a good baseline. At the moment, we still don’t have the complete car, we are working on it.
"But I think having the approach to do as many laps as possible and get away from the reliability issues is right now the target for this test and try to look for some performance next week.
"It’s been a very special day, very incredible to get on the installation lap finally a feeling of the car. Obviously I had to be very patient last year. At the same time, my preparation has been very important, it was a very important year.
"Now that I’m back and have a good feeling of the car, enjoying driving the car, it’s already a positive start."
