Software Glitch Triggers Reboot and Delayed Start for Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

Formula 1 officials were forced to abort the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after a software bug caused multiple cars to shut down during wet formation laps.

Heavy rain at the Sepang International Circuit led organizers to attempt two formation laps behind the safety car to clear water from the track. However, Ars Technica reported that a bug in the cars' software triggered an automatic 60-second shutdown of electric motors. The system reportedly mistook slow-speed driving with reduced hybrid power for an attempt to bypass anti-cheating regulations.

The incident caused significant chaos on the track as cars slowed down or rebooted their systems at different intervals. Max Verstappen of Red Bull compared the scene to a "Lego race," noting that cars were at one point five-wide on the straight because drivers could not understand why their vehicles were crawling. The FIA had to hastily write and distribute a software update to fix the bug, which had not appeared during earlier testing.

The start was eventually abandoned and rescheduled for an hour and a half later. Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who also serves as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, told BBC Sport that the sport needs to "have a hard look at" itself. He criticized the extreme complexity of the current regulations and power units, arguing that decisions made years ago have led to counter-intuitive car behavior.

The governing body, the FIA, has launched a "full review" of the technical failure. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies stated that the glitch serves as a reminder that technical complexity must not get out of hand. The problem specifically involved a wet-weather engine map, which had seen little use this year before the tropical conditions in Malaysia triggered the error.

Background

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix was relocated to Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit due to an ongoing war with Iran. The current engine regulations feature a near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, resulting in engines that produce 1,000bhp at full power but drop to 540bhp when batteries are depleted.