COVID-19 is set to keep the Haas F1 team from putting their Formula 1 car into operation by March 2021

Here’s a threatening twist in the nearly year-long coronavirus saga and its impact on Formula 1.

The Haas F1 team says it won’t be able to start its 2021 F1 car until it is tested in Bahrain on March 12th. Unlike rival McLaren, who recently kicked up its 2021 engine on social media, the inability of key Ferrari technicians to make their way from Ferrari headquarters in Italy to Haas UK plant has halted this phase of pre-season operations.

According to an article on the Formula 1 official website, Haas picked up its 2021 chassis from manufacturer Dallara in Italy but opted to actually build it in the UK, where Haas houses so many of the parts that will be transferred from 2020.

This is where it gets really frustrating when you happen to be at the Haas warehouse.

The UK government has introduced a mandatory 10 day self-isolation period for anyone entering the country due to the coronavirus. This isolation phase, with the season so close to the start, is not an option for Ferrari, which at this point in the preseason does not want key people to be idle for so long.

Haas has had a technical partnership with Ferrari since joining F1 for the 2016 season.

Haas therefore plans to take the car to the three-day Bahrain test, which is slated to begin on March 12, and fire the car up there.

“We have problems with Ferrari employees who come to Banbury to start the engines because they have to be quarantined,” Günther Steiner, head of the Haas F1 team, told F1.com. “We cannot afford that in time, so we decided to light the fire in Bahrain. The team will assemble the car in the UK and then the last fire before testing will be in Bahrain. “

This twist puts the Haas team behind some of its rivals. And after a season in which Haas finished ninth with the lowest score (3) in the team’s five-year history in the series in the F1 Constructors Championship. The team is also starting a transition season in 2021 for the team with rookie drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Stiener added that while the engine start delay was not ideal, the situation could be worse.

“But there are a lot of broadcasts to our advantage so it’s not as dramatic as any other year,” he said.

The combination of a new driver line-up, COVID-19 travel restrictions on staff, a delay in starting the 2021 engines and a disappointing 2020 campaign seems to get the entire Haas program back on its feet once the team joins the team sixth year in F1. How quickly will Haas fight for podiums?

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