Max Verstappen may have ended his long wait for a 2026 victory at Sepang, but the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia left Formula 1 with another talking point, one that had nothing to do with the race winner.Verstappen led Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton across the line to claim victory at the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix, but the race had already descended into chaos before the lights even went out. Heavy rain delayed the start, only for several cars to then suffer unexpected power losses during the formation laps because of a wet-weather software issue.Four days after the incident, the FIA has now completed its investigation and confirmed that the revised software configuration used at Sepang will remain in place for the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix if similar wet conditions arise.
What caused the bizarre formation-lap chaos?
The FIA found that the issue was caused by an unintended combination of low engine speeds, low grip, wet-weather energy management settings and the configuration of the Sepang circuit. Cars operating at low engine RPM in sections where a 250kW power reduction had been applied experienced a greater-than-intended loss of power, which could not be recovered while they remained in those sections.The problem affected several cars, including those of Verstappen, Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, with some machines slowing dramatically and others appearing to crawl around the circuit. The start procedure was subsequently suspended while the FIA and teams worked on a solution.
FIA keeps Sepang fix for Singapore
The FIA has confirmed that the software configuration introduced during the Sepang delay will be reinstated for Singapore if similar weather conditions are expected. It will not, however, be the final solution. The governing body said a further update to the wet-weather software is planned for the United States Grand Prix on October 25.The FIA also said the review had recommended stronger software-testing measures, acknowledging the limited opportunities available to test wet-weather power-unit configurations.“The FIA, together with the teams and Power Unit Manufacturers (PUMs), will continue to strengthen Power Unit software testing and verification capabilities,” the governing body said.
FIA rejects claims that software was never tested
The governing body also moved to counter suggestions that the software had simply been deployed without adequate testing. According to the FIA, teams and power-unit manufacturers had conducted simulation exercises before implementation. The software was also tested during full-scale running in Free Practice 1 at both the Belgian Grand Prix and Dutch Grand Prix.However, the combination that ultimately caused the problem at Sepang was not detected during those tests or during the laps to the grid.
How quickly was the problem fixed?
The FIA detailed the timeline of the disruption, highlighting how quickly its technical team identified and addressed the issue.At 3:45pm, the race-start procedure was suspended after two formation laps following power-loss problems. Within five minutes, the FIA technical team had identified the cause and released revised Power Unit software configurations.By 4:03pm, teams had received further technical guidance. At 4:20pm, the integration process had been completed, with competitors ready to resume the race around 20 minutes later.The 10-minute signal was given at 4:22pm, before the cars finally left the pit lane at 4:33pm to begin the race-start procedure.The race eventually went ahead, with Verstappen taking his first victory of the 2026 season, followed by Antonelli and Hamilton.
