‘Like The Lego Race’: F1 Cars Hit By Software Glitch At Malaysia Grand Prix

Formula 1 was thrown into an unusual pre-race scramble when a software glitch at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Bahrain caused several cars, including those of multiple world champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, to struggle for electrical power in the wet conditions before the race.

A tropical downpour delayed the start by almost an hour. When the cars eventually headed out for formation laps behind the safety car to assess the track, several drivers were left struggling to get their cars moving.

The bizarre scenes prompted Verstappen and Hamilton to compare the situation to a “Lego race”, while the  Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced a full investigation into the software problem  governing how electrical energy can be deployed by the latest hybrid power units in wet conditions.

Software Bug Brings Cars to a Crawl 

The trouble began after torrential rain had already delayed the scheduled start. When the drivers eventually headed out behind the Safety Car for the formation lap, several cars suddenly lost their ability to deploy power effectively.

The FIA stated that this issue arose due to a combination of extremely slow engine revs, poor traction conditions, wet weather energy-management strategies and the design of the Sepang circuit.

As a result, throttle inputs became ineffective on some cars, with several drivers forced to crawl around the circuit or stop altogether. Race Control suspended the starting procedure while officials attempted to determine the cause.

For Hamilton, the experience was particularly unusual. The Ferrari driver said he had to stop his car and restart the engine, something he said he had never previously needed to do during his Formula 1 career.

Verstappen, who eventually won the race, described the spectacle as resembling a previous promotional event involving battery-powered Lego Formula 1 cars.

"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," said Verstappen.

Software Glitch Forces FIA Into Emergency Fix 

With the race already delayed by the weather, the FIA's technical department worked with teams and power-unit manufacturers to identify and resolve the software problem. 

FIA officials removed the constraint on the energy limit in the affected areas through an updated software package. Teams were then able to install the revised software before the race could finally begin. 

The additional delay lasted over fifty minutes and added to the disruptions that had occurred earlier in the day. 

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the software had been tested but not extensively enough under the precise conditions encountered at Sepang.

“Cars are complicated,” Tombazis said. “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. … We haven't done a full debrief of the situation and see how we can avoid such an issue. Every race, we have a long debrief afterwards, where we identify criticalities.” 

McLaren Says Glitches Must Be Addressed

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the incident was not an ideal reflection of the sport, while acknowledging that it occurred during the first year of a major new set of regulations.

“What happened at the start obviously is not ideal in terms of presentation of the sport,” Stella said.

“At the same time it is the first year of new regulations, quite complex from a regulatory point of view, and it was also the first time we started in such conditions.”

Stella said Formula 1 had made significant progress in making the new rules work on track, but accepted that problems could occur as teams and governing authorities gained experience with the new technology.

“If there are some glitches occasionally, we have to accept they are glitches for everyone, be supportive and make sure it doesn't happen again,” he said.

FIA Probes Glitch That Disrupted F1 Start

The FIA confirmed that they would conduct an in-depth review about what caused the software error in the first place, and why the error wasn't caught during pre-season testing. 

While acknowledging that there was a major technical issue, the FIA stated that the quick action taken by those involved enabled the race to take place.

The episode also exposed a wider challenge facing Formula 1: how to balance technological sophistication with reliability and predictability on the track.

For a sport based around the development of technology, the incident provided a rare reminder that the more complex a system becomes, the more vulnerable it is to problems. 

The FIA's investigation will now determine whether the software glitch was simply an isolated oversight or a warning that F1's increasingly intricate power-unit systems require a different approach to testing and control.