Formula 1: Haas to miss part of last pre-season test because of transport issues

The new Formula 1 season begins in Bahrain on 18 March

The US-based Haas team will miss at least the first morning of this week's final pre-season test in Bahrain because of freight delays.

The team hope to get the car on track in time for the afternoon session after the test starts on Thursday morning.

Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will be at the wheel on the first day.

Haas have not finalised the identity of the driver who will replace Russian Nikita Mazepin, whose contract was terminated at the weekend in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

The Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet has reported that the team's former driver Kevin Magnussen, who left Haas at the end of 2020, is a candidate for the seat.

The information has been verified by BBC Sport, but there remain hurdles to clear for the 29-year-old.

Chief among them are the existing contracts he holds in sports-car racing with the Ganassi team in the US and Peugeot's nascent Le Mans programme.

Magnussen, who is believed to be the team's favoured option, would have to find an accommodation with both entities before he could commit to Haas as a number of grands prix clash with events or tests he has scheduled in endurance racing.

Other candidates for the seat include former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi and experienced veteran Nico Hulkenberg, who is currently Aston Martin's reserve.

Fittipaldi is no more than an outsider in the context of the race seat.

What has Mazepin been saying?

Mazepin and team-mate Mick Schumacher failed to register a point in the entire 2021 season

Meanwhile, Mazepin said on Wednesday that he did not feel his dismissal was "fair" as he had committed to race as a neutral, as permitted by F1's governing body the FIA.

Mazepin, speaking during a news conference, said he believed there was "no legal reason that could enable the team to terminate my contract", adding: "I didn't deserve it."

He refused to say whether he approved or disapproved of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

He also dodged questions as to whether he would have signed a document the FIA requires of all Russian and Belarussian drivers that commits them to comply with decisions made by the FIA on 1 March, when the organisation announced that it "condemned" the invasion.

Mazepin said the question was irrelevant because he did not have a contract to race.

Mazepin owed his seat to sponsorship funding from the Russian chemicals company Uralkali, which is part-owned by his billionaire father Dmitry, a close associate of Putin.

Asked whether it was possible for him to be perceived as a neutral athlete in that context, Mazepin reiterated that the FIA had "ruled that drivers can compete if they are neutral. This I am ready to agree with. And I was ready to consider myself neutral to compete".

He added: "Formula 1 is not a closed chapter for me. I will be ready to race in case there is an opportunity to return. I wish all the best to the drivers who will replace me. They have nothing to do with the existing situation."