FIA Software Bug Causes Chaos and Race Delay at F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia

The start of the 2026 Formula 1 season's first wet race, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia held at the Sepang International Circuit, experienced severe disruption during the formation lap behind the safety car. Race leader Max Verstappen suffered a loss of power while driving at low speed, after which Lewis Hamilton stopped completely alongside several other cars. Driver Oliver Bearman of Haas noted that his throttle pedal felt completely unresponsive. Race control halted the formation lap with a red flag, causing a 40-minute delay.

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis confirmed that a bug in FIA-supplied software, developed over several years with teams, was responsible for the failures. In wet conditions, electrical power is reduced to 250kW. While teams such as Red Bull and Racing Bulls had tested the software, it had not been tested at extremely low speeds behind the safety car. In specific minisectors at Sepang, these low speeds caused the software to enter a loop, redirecting throttle input toward MGU-K recharging and preventing drivers from accelerating.

To resolve the issue, the FIA deployed an emergency fix by overriding energy limit constraints in the affected minisectors. Once all teams installed the updated software, the race was able to proceed. Tombazis explained that limited wet testing contributed to the oversight and confirmed that the FIA would conduct a full debrief following the round 16 race to prevent similar issues in the future.