Haas has become the final team to fire up its 2021 Formula 1 car ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Haas built up its VF-21 at its Banbury base but could not fire up the car owing to Italy-based Ferrari power unit personnel not travelling to the United Kingdom.
The personnel would have needed to quarantine for up to two weeks in the United Kingdom prior to undertaking the same period of isolation upon return to Italy, owing to ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions.
But on Wednesday at the Bahrain International Circuit the personnel were able to gather for the VF-21 to be fired up in the garage.
Haas’ VF-21 is due to run for the first time when testing begins on Friday at the venue.
Speaking at the launch of Haas’ 2021 car last week team boss Guenther Steiner said: “This year we were lucky as a lot of parts were carried over.
“You can do that [not firing up until testing]; with a complete new car you could never do this, you couldn’t take the risk.”
Haas will be the only team on the grid with an all-rookie pairing.
Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will split running in the VF-21 across the three days of pre-season testing.
“I think that is one of the difficult things this year that these guys don’t get a lot of driving before going into the first race weekend but it is what it is and you cannot change it,” said Steiner.
“The only thing that we try to do to make sure that we do as much running without issues.
“You always try to do that anyway, try to go there without issues but a little more emphasis on that one because every minute counts now.”
