It was a disappointing first day of pre-season testing for both the Haas and Alfa Romeo teams in Barcelona. The Haas drivers were only able to complete a total of 43 laps, while the Alfa Romeo drivers put in the lowest number of laps at 32.

The majority of the teams average lap count was double or treble the amount of the aforementioned squads. 

Alfa Romeo remains the only team who has yet to reveal their 2022 livery, which is set to take place after testing in Barcelona. The Switzerland based team’s camouflaged black and white car presented multiple issues that prevented new driver Valtteri Bottas and reserve driver Robert Kubica from fulfilling a solid day of testing.

After putting in a time of 1.22.572  Bottas ended the testing session in 10th. The Finn revealed that the underlying issues were associated with the car’s  reliability and on the mechanical side.     

“We did have a few issues and, unfortunately, the issues we had were quite costly in terms of time, some issues were from reliability, some issues were with mechanical things, but, luckily, we understand them completely and we know how to fix it,” explained Bottas.

“We just didn’t have enough time during the day to fix the problem.

“For sure today was compromised, we lacked quite a bit of mileage but at least we got some running and got some kind of idea how to progress for tomorrow. Now I just hope we can two good days in Barcelona, after this.”

Bottas alo addressed the handling and feel of the new F1 cars on track. 

“Naturally they’re a bit heavier, a bit bigger, but apart from that it’s not like night and day. For sure you need to adjust your driving and there’s still much more learning to do,” he said.

Ending things on a positive note, Bottas expressed how much he enjoyed being back on track after the winter break and remained optimistic for the remainder of  the pre-season testing days ahead.   

“It’s always nice to get back behind the wheel after the winter break, especially with a new car, a new team and a new generation of Formula One cars. I did enjoy my time in the car, even though we had some issues that turned out to be pretty costly in terms of time lost,” Bottas stated.

“The important thing, however, is that we were able to understand them completely and we know how to fix them: we may have run out of time to do that today, but we still got some running under our belt and we know how to progress.

“Now I hope we can get two good days tomorrow and Friday to catch up on the time we lost today and complete our programme for the test. My first impression of the car is positive, so far I did not feel massive differences between the old-generation cars and the new ones, definitely not night and day. 

"Of course, one needs to adjust the driving a little bit, but nothing too drastic: still, we have a lot of learning to do and we’re keen to get back to work on track tomorrow.”

Despite the issues that limited testing time on track, Kubica who was the slowest on track with time of 1:25.909, expressed his positive impressions of the car and believes there is more potential to unlock throughout the remainder of preseason testing.    

“It wasn’t the best of mornings as we had a couple of issues that limited our running. The guys did a good job to solve them and it’s nice to see the spirit with which the team faced them, but in the end we lost a big chunk of time,” Kubica said.

“The little running I did feels like an appetiser, but obviously I wanted more! That’s racing, though, the important thing is that we can recover some ground tomorrow and continue discovering our new baby. The first impressions of the car are positive, but there’s so much more we need to find out.”

The Haas team also endured issues with their car that caused them to experience a limited first day of testing. Nikita Mazepin clocking in the 16th place  just above Kubica with a fastest lap time of 1.24.456 experienced a cooling leak issue. Teammate Mick Schumacher was 12th fastest with a time of 1:22.962 and came across floor damage that hindered his afternoon running.      

Mazepin insists that the car is strong and he continued to maintain a hopeful outlook despite the challenges faced on the first day of testing.       

"Firstly, it was great to get out. The whole team is coming alive, and the car has been born. It felt nice because the set-up and the way you run the car during these days is different to how we ran it on filming day,”  Mazepin revealed. 

“Unfortunately, we didn't get too many laps in – we had a cooling leak which prevented us from doing more laps – but it's just the beginning. I think the car is looking strong when figuring out the balance. Everyone is learning about this very new car and there are some things that don't quite match the simulations, but we're quick learners!"

Schumacher, unfazed by the lack of track time and troubles from Haas's 2022 challenger continues to stay focused  towards the development process of the car.   

"Nothing to be concerned about – the smile isn't as big as it could be as we would've liked a three-digit number on the board – but those things happen,” Schumacher replied.

“It's now about trying to get the laps that we lost today in tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see what Bahrain looks like but at least we're developing the car this year and can react to things, making things better."

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner reflected on the first day of testing and anticipates there will be a  considerable increase in reliability for both divers throughout the rest of the testing days.     

“One of those days where a few small issues end up costing you considerable time,” Steiner commented. 

“There’s not necessarily a lot to take from today other than hopefully that’s some of our issues over and done with.

"All being well tomorrow we’ll have greater reliability and we can get into a more thorough run-plan for both Mick and Nikita.”