First glimpse of new Haas as the VF-21 hits the track for shakedown run in Bahrain

Haas gave their fans a first glimpse of their new car on Thursday morning, when Nikita Mazepin hit the track for a shakedown run in the VF-21 at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The American team revealed their all-new livery on renders of the car last week, and will officially pull the covers off the new challenger in the pitlane on Friday morning, before pre-season testing gets underway. But ahead of that, they fired up the car for the first time today.

The team run by Gunether Steiner haven't been able to boot up their Ferrari power unit before now due to travel restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

READ MORE: Haas boss Guenther Steiner expecting ‘a good step’ from all-new Ferrari power unit

But on Thursday morning their garage hummed to the roar of the engine, before new recruit Mazepin pulled the car out onto the track for the shakedown run.

Mazepin's new team mate and fellow F1 rookie Mick Schumacher did not take the wheel today, but will drive on the morning of the first day of pre-season testing, which begins on Friday. The German said this week that his F1 debut will be even more emotional, given it lands nearly 30 years after his father Michael Schumacher made his race debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix.

Aston Martin and Ferrari are also expected to run their cars, the AMR21 and SF21, on Thursday, each using one of their two permitted filming days to do so, when they are limited to just 100km of running.

Main image from the Haas official Twitter account.