Before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, a software bug affected multiple cars, with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both likening the consequences to a “Lego race.”.
For nearly an hour, a tropical downpour delayed the start of the race. When the cars finally began formation laps behind a safety car, many of them were unable to move at all. The trouble was a bug in the software that restricts how much electrical power an engine can use in wet conditions. Low engine speeds, low grip and specific characteristics of the circuit’s layout were the triggers.
The driver who secured his first victory of the season with a dominant display said “These engines are so complicated and a lot of software is implemented. I triggered [the problem] first and then I looked in my mirror, I was like, ‘Wait, are they waiting for me or what’s going [on]…?’ It was like the Lego race.”.
The reference was to a display of Lego F1 cars that ran on battery power, staged prior to the British Grand Prix in July.
Verstappen was joined by Hamilton in the post-race press conference, where the latter was seated next to the former. Hamilton broke in with “Yeah, we had the same speed. I had to stop on track and stop the car and engine and restart it. I’ve never done that before.”.
Verstappen added: “It was insane. Like, it’s the Lego power. At some point we were five-wide on the straight because we couldn’t understand what was going on. Then we did a lap and then I see eight other cars crawling still, and I saw you (Hamilton) by yourself crawling. That’s not what you want, right, for the sport.”
The Bug’s Roots
The trouble came about because the program had been put through its paces, but not under these particular conditions. There has been little running in the wet this year.
Nikolas Tombazis, the single-seater director for governing body the FIA, said there would be a full investigation. He acknowledged the complexity: “Cars are complicated. We would all like it to be simpler, but when you have electrical energy and combustion energy all working together, and obviously when you want to ensure that there’s sporting fairness between the teams, that is complicated.”
Tombazis said the FIA would avoid such an issue in future: “Can I guarantee it will never happen again? This specific problem, yes. A problem, no, but we will do our best to avoid it, of course.”
A Long History of Glitches
This is not the first issue created by the huge complexity of the latest hybrid engines, with their near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power. Because the engines are energy-starved, they cannot deploy their full combined power output at all times. That led to sticking-plaster solutions in engine management, which have caused counter-intuitive driving throughout the season.
Rules are changing for next year to alter the energy split.
What Happened at the Start
A side effect of the issue was that the starting order became mixed up, raising the concern that the rules might demand a new sequence for every restart. The FIA’s software team responded by rewriting the code at top speed, and they concluded that the fairest approach was to return to the original grid arrangement.
Bradley Lord, the deputy team principal at Mercedes, offered an explanation for the decision. Here is what he said: “If you think of the millions of people watching around the world, they tune in for the start and suddenly the cars are all in a jumbled up order because of something that happened 40 minutes earlier and it was behind a safety car on a formation lap. That would have been a much harder thing to explain than resetting and then going from where we did.”
The Reaction
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, said the sport did a strong job despite the problem: “The beginning wasn’t ideal when it came to how things were shown. But it is the first year of new rules, quite complicated from a legal point of view, and it was also the first time we started under these conditions. So we have to admit that F1 has done a strong job in bringing in some new rules that came with question marks about how the power units would act. We have to acknowledge there has been real good work to make the show and the racing work, and if there are problems sometimes, we have to accept they are problems for everyone, be supportive and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Sport’s Response
This incident will serve as a lesson for the sport, according to Tombazis, who has promised a full investigation, with the FIA committed to working toward preventing such a problem from arising again.
The malfunction revealed how delicate the sport’s equipment really is. Low engine speeds, low traction, and a particular track design together set off an error that left the vehicles fighting for control.
Verstappen secured his first victory of the season, a result he called “amazing.”, after a chaotic and bizarre opening to the race.
Key Facts
- Date: Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
- Winning driver: Max Verstappen
- Finish positions: Verstappen won, Hamilton finished third
- Problem: Software bug affecting engine power management in wet conditions
- Cause: Low engine speeds, low grip, specific circuit layout
- Fix: FIA engineers rewrote the code
Timeline of the Day
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Before the race | Tropical downpour delays start for nearly an hour |
| Formation lap | Cars set off behind a safety car; many struggle to move |
| Race start | Verstappen takes dominant win, his first of the year |
| Post-race | Full investigation promised by Nikolas Tombazis |
A flaw came to light, showing how weak the sport’s machines truly are beneath their surface. Low engine speeds joined with low grip and a particular track design brought about an error that left the vehicles fighting to stay under control.
His first victory of the season came from a race that began with chaos and confusion. Verstappen described the win as “amazing.”, with the opening moments of the event proving to be strange and disordered.
Tombazis has promised a full investigation, and the FIA will be working to ensure this kind of problem does not happen again. The sport will benefit from the lessons it takes away.
Source material: “Hamilton bemused after glitch turns F1 into 'Lego race',” the BBC.
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