A Troubled Regulatory Dawn
The start of the 2026 season saw the all-new FIA regulations for the 2026 cars and powertrains heavily criticised. The F1 drivers to a man complained over the amount of influence on their driving the huge electrical input from the new power units.
In Australia there was chaos as the Grand Prix started, with some cars losing power whilst others under full electrical boost hurtled towards those struggling to get off the line. Changes were made to how the software ensures the power is delivered has mitigated this to a certain effect, but at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia the electrical gremlins were making a farce of the pre-race start procedure which had been delayed by 40 mins.
Formation Lap Disarray
The cars were instructed to start the formation lap behind the safety car and the plan was to complete two laps before the drivers came to the grid for a standing start to the race. However, initially Max Verstappen was seen driving very slowly, with the cars behind him struggling to stay in order.
Red Bull instructed Max to keep his engine revs up through the corners, to prevent the overly complicated power unit entering low power mode. Verstappen recovered, but then the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton stopped on track across the start-finish line along with a number of others.
Red Flag and Pit Lane Confusion
The safety car continued on with one group of cars behind it, whilst the rest fell almost a lap behind. The race control threw the red flag. The result: some cars came into the pits ahead of the safety car, whilst Verstappen and the front runners followed in behind it.
The race was delayed a further hour whilst FIA officials debated the starting order. The regulation which states the cars must start in the order they file into the pit lane behind the safety car was abandoned, much to Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s relief given he was towards the back of the pack.
Software Glitches and Extra Delay
The delay was augmented by the fact the FIA had re-configured the power unit software earlier in the year to prevent team effecting a kind of traction control. This low power mode kicked in during the formation lap which caused the issues for the cars which stopped.
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord revealed to Sky F1 that the software was causing gremlins and that the FIA had issued a fix for the teams to implement before a restart would be possible.
“All the teams have been sent some new parameters to load into the cars as well which is happening up and down the grid,” he told the Sky commentary team during the delay. “There may have been something, a sort of software issue of some kind that was behind some of the difficulties we saw earlier.”
In reality it was the highly complex hybrid power units which had never been tested in wet conditions which were to blame, although the FIA may well have contributed with their software fixes.
Tyre Gambles and Strategy Shifts
When the race did finally restart 1h41m after the scheduled start, both Ferrari, Alpine, McLaren drivers, and Valtteri Bottas had elected to start with dry weather tyres. Their gamble proved dreadfully wrong and they all fell to the back of the field within a lap. Bottas was to stop on track on lap 9 and a safety car saved Ferrari’s blushes, as the field predictably filed in to switch from the wet tyres to slicks.
This allowed those who started on the dry tyres to catch up the minute or so they had fallen behind and was the reason Lewis Hamilton was able to race into third place and a podium finish. Late in the race it was the FIA again who were to sit front and centre after a virtual safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Williams car of Alex Albon. The car was off-line and the marshals were in no danger of an out-of-control F1 car travelling at 40% speed hitting them. Yet the recovery vehicle failed to make a move towards the Williams until a whole lap later when the VSC became a full safety car.
Late Safety Car Frustrations
Predictably with ten laps to go, most of the field pitted for free rubber given the attritional nature of the Sepang circuit’s asphalt. The elongated protocol for the safety car meant it took several laps for the pack to bunch up. Then the lapped cars were instructed to unlap themselves but Sergio Perez was still half a lap down.
More time was wasted as Perez made his way past the train of cars on the lead lap, then another lap was lost as he had to be sufficiently clear of the front runners to not interfere with the restart. This issue repeats itself year on year in F1 and merely wastes time when better solutions could be found.
Driver Backlash Over Regulations
The drivers were critical of both the extended delay to the start of the race and the late safety car and the FIA’s protocols.
“The whole day felt like a bit of a faff, with the delay and then the red flag and then endless laps under the safety car and then suddenly doing extra laps to allow Checo [Sergio Perez] to overtake, it didn’t feel very F1 today,” said George Russell. “I’d have been a bit disappointed if I was in the stands, watching that unfold, so… that wasn’t good,” added the Mercedes driver.
Russell then suffered an engine failure as the safety car was about to be recalled. Inevitably the safety car then remained out for another two laps while the marshals cleared Russell’s Mercedes back into the pit lane. The race finally resumed with just three racing laps remaining.
Perez himself was critical of the safety car protocol calling it “totally unacceptable for the sport.”
Lando Norris who has been one of the most critical of the drivers about the complicated hybrid engines once again launched an attack on the FIA-specified powertrains. “It just proves that we shouldn’t have any of that stuff on the electronic side,” he said when asked about the inordinate delay in starting the Grand Prix.
His McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was mystified over the affair stating he’d “never seen an F1 race delayed by a bug. That was a new one.”
Carlos Sainz who is a spokesman for the Grand Prix Drivers Association was scathing demanding F1 “needs to have a hard look at themselves and see how we ended up in this situation. It is clear the regs are extremely complicated for the drivers, for the teams, for the PUs, for the manufacturers. It is too complicated,” he added.
“Again, my only question mark is who, five years ago, decided that this was the direction to go? We are doing the best with what we are given as a sport and as regulations. The FIA and F1 are doing the best they can with what was decided four or five years ago, but clearly what was decided four or five years ago is wrong…
“Not a lot more to say, [we] just learn as a sport not to do those mistakes again and not suffer from the same strange cases.” Sainz concluded: “That is what happens when there is so much software, so much controls involved. If it was a V8 aspirated, it would have never happened.”
Conclusion and Questions for the Future
The return to the Sepang circuit was hailed by the drivers as positive, given track design promotes good racing and overtaking. However, the Grand Prix of Bahrain held in Malaysia was not F1’s finest day in terms of the organisation of the sport. Complicated powertrains which the drivers hate and a stubborn refusal to revisit some of the race protocols meant F1 looked foolish in many ways.
In other racing categories, the marshals are allowed to work on track when safe without the need to deploy a safety car. This could easily have been done with Albon’s Williams.
Further, the safety car protocol needs revisiting. By allowing teams to pit the cars under the SC merely elongates the time it takes for the train of cars to gather behind the SC. Further, lapped cars should merely fall to the rear of the snake when the safety car is being withdrawn, rather than waste lap after lap as they clear the train and are safely ahead of the field.
When will those in charge of the sport listen to their drivers and fans and make the necessary changes?
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
