The FIA revealed an “unprecedented” fault that caused several cars to be grounded in the chaotic start to the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Heavy rain at Sepang caused a delayed start, but when the drivers left the lane many drivers almost stopped including race leader Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton with several midfield drivers also experiencing problems.
The start procedure was abandoned and the Grand Prix finally started properly on the original grid order almost an hour after the carnage.
“On the formation lap ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low grip conditions, wet weather power management settings and the sectoral configuration of the Sepang circuit led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars,” the FIA said in a statement.
“As a result, the FIA Technical Department lifted the power limit restriction in the affected sectors through an updated version of the software distributed to all competitors during the race delay caused by the heavy rain enabling the teams to make the necessary changes to the power unit before the start of the race.
“This problem was not discovered by the FIA or the teams during testing or during grid laps. The FIA, together with the teams and power unit manufacturers, will undertake a full review of the matter.”
Formula 1 and the FIA have new technical regulations this year, which saw the introduction of the new power unit which is almost 50 percent electric.
Some drivers have criticized the new power unit for its complexity requiring an unusual driving style, where you can be penalized for getting on the throttle early or braking later in certain corners.
Malaysia saw its first wet conditions of the season and Sky Sports F1 Anthony Davidson explained that the slow speed of cars exiting the lane in the rain caused the stops.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Heavy rain delayed the start of the Bahrain GP in Malaysia
“Basically, if you run the engines too slow, the turbo goes down because we don’t have the MGU-H anymore,” he said.
“What’s effectively happening is if you’re off the throttle for too long, the turbo kicks in and when the driver puts the foot back down, it uses all the engine’s fluid.
“Once the battery runs out, you’re just on the power of the internal combustion engine. And because it can no longer meet the driver’s torque demand, because the engine isn’t making the power because you don’t have a turbo, you fall outside the FIA regulations.
“It’s all about stopping teams from having traction control. It’s overcomplicated and you fall into this horrible trap where the engine can’t accelerate again because you’re being penalized by this regulation.”
The Bahrain GP in Malaysia was the first time drivers without sufficient rain have used intermediates at a Grand Prix this year
‘Not good enough’ – Drivers react to strange scenes
Most of the drivers were unimpressed by the scenes and the extra hour’s delay it took the FIA to implement new software in the cars before the proper start of the race.
“At first I thought the Safety Car had turned off the light,” said Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was running fourth on the first formation lap.
“I couldn’t see the Safety Car. There was a lot of spray and I thought the Safety Car was gone and Max was taking the space to warm up the tyres.
“Then I was told on the radio, ‘we think Max has a problem’, then Max went and Lewis was slow. I waited, then at one point it was said, ‘ok I’ll go’ then when I got into reverse I had exactly the same problem and realized that everyone was in the same boat and we were stuck at 20km/h.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton revealed his heart sank when Ferrari chose to start on soft tires while most of the other cars started on intermediates.
“It’s a bit scary to see that with an F1 car. That’s a bit of our concern with these cars, not to that extent, of course, that was a problem.
“But when you come out of the corner, sometimes you can have 100 horsepower more, 100 horsepower less. You’re not completely in control of the power you’re being given, and then with that kind of visibility, like at the start of the race, you can have big drifts because of that.”
At the press conference, Verstappen joked that it felt “like Lego racing” about the parade of drivers at this year’s British Grand Prix, when the 22 drivers raced in cars made from Lego.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Check out the best bits of the chaotic Lego parade at the British Grand Prix
“It was crazy. Like, it’s Lego power!” said Verstappen, who went on to win the race in Malaysia.
“At one point we were five wide on the straight because we couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then we did a lap and then I saw eight other cars still crawling, and I saw you (Hamilton) crawling yourself.”
Hamilton replied: “I had to stop on track, stop the car and the engine and restart it. I’ve never done that before.”
Verstappen added “this is not what you want for the sport”. Hamilton agreed: “Hopefully there’s a lesson learned.”
Formula 1 heads straight to Singapore for the final Sprint weekend of the season with on-track action starting this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
