FIA reveals why F1 cars stopped in rain at Bahrain GP in Malaysia

The FIA has explained why F1 cars stopped during the wet opening of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. After a 40-minute delay caused by a downpour, a chaotic formation lap followed. Front-row starters Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, along with multiple other cars, suffered a glitch that made throttle input ineffective, leaving several vehicles nearly standing still and prompting a red flag. Sergio Pérez called the situation “unacceptable,” and Lando Norris said it was “just horrible,” pointing to the “electronic side” of F1’s new machinery, which uses 47% electrical power. FIA single-seater chief Nikolas Tombazis said the sport had little competitive wet running this season, so the power unit reacted badly when cars drove extremely slowly. A software update was issued and installed, taking about 20 minutes, after which the race restarted. Fernando Alonso later joked that this was a day with “50% DNFs” that didn’t trigger the stoppage.