England was recently forced into lockdown, owing to the substantial rise in COVID-19 cases around the country. This untimely decision, unfortunately, disrupted one of the Formula 1 teams that are looking to revive themselves from their terrible 2020 season outing – Haas.

Being Ferrari’s customers, the team usually follow the protocol of sending their parts to Maranello for assembly. However, this season, considering the homologation rules, Haas decided to assemble the parts in their own factory. But there’s a twist in the tale; Haas’ own factory is situated in Banbury, England.

Hence, even Haas’ boss, Guenther Steiner, will not be joining the team for the final assembly. This is because he’ll have to self-isolate for 2 weeks from the time of his arrival.

“This year, the logistics are easier than sending our parts to Italy for assembly,” Guenther Steiner said. “If I wanted to fly to England, I would first have to be in quarantine for two weeks. There are only exceptions for athletes.” (Google Translate)

Luckily, the Haas crew is available. And, consequently, the assembly of the 2021 car, VF-21, is all set to begin from the first week of February.

Delay in engine fire-up for Haas

According to Auto-motor-und-sport, Haas will have to wait longer than usual to hear the roaring sound of the Ferrari engine. Apparently, the initial plan was that the Ferrari technicians would fly into England to fit the engine inside VF-21.

And, subsequently, the Italian crew were supposed to assist the team with the final touches. Following that, the team would fire up their engine for the first time.

However, the recent lockdown meant that the much-awaited technicians will have to put their travel plan on hold and wait for the lockdown to be lifted.

As of now, Haas will be firing up their engine only at the winter test, which is set to begin in Bahrain over the first week of March, as opposed to the usual mid-February period.

Since the start of 2020, F1 has been fighting hard to keep the teams and the drivers safe from the dangerous COVID-19 virus. And as the chaotic season concluded, it looked like F1 teams could finally catch a break. But recent developments meant otherwise.

The birth of the new coronavirus strain could turn out to be yet another rough season to handle for F1 and the FIA. So, will F1 manage to keep COVID-19 at bay over the upcoming season? Well, only time will tell.

Read More: F1 Teams Planning to Host Virtual Car Launches Due to COVID Restrictions- Will Buxton