09/03/2022
NEWS STORY
Haas likely to only miss the first morning of Bahrain test following air cargo issues.
Earlier in the week it was reported that a plane due to carry mush of the American team's equipment - including its cars - to Bahrain, had been stranded in Istanbul due to technical issues, whilst the equipment was still in the UK.
Auto Motor und Sport reported that Haas expected to miss the entire first day of running at the test which gets underway on Thursday.
"We might be able to write off the first day of testing," team boss, Guenther Steiner was quoted as saying. "All other teams have a two-day lead in preparation."
This morning, the American team revealed that its freight has now arrived in the Kingdom.
"The team's freight arrived late last night to the circuit in Bahrain," Haas tweeted. "This delay will impact our programme but we are targeting being out on track for the second session Thursday afternoon with Fittipaldi driving the VF-22."
The issue comes at a time the American outfit has parted company with title sponsor Uralkali and driver Nikita Mazepin, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This came on top of a troubled opening test for the team, which saw it complete the fewest laps (160) of the ten teams on duty.
The first day saw Mazepin miss much of the morning running due to a fuel leak while in the afternoon Mick Schumacher was sidelined with a damaged floor. While the German completed a full race distance the following morning, in the afternoon Mazepin suffered a damaged fuel pump.
The final day witnessed just 9 laps of running, before Mazepin suffered an oil system issue that prevented his teammate from running in the afternoon.