F1 has launched a review into its cars after the Bahrain Grand Prix descended into total chaos as drivers were left fuming at the carnage.
Matthew Sullivan
A chaotic, rain-affected Bahrain Grand Prix has raised more questions and criticism about Formula One’s cars under the new regulations.
Max Verstappen won his first race of the season at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, which hosted the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix after it was postponed due to the Middle East conflict earlier this year.
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K.
The carnage began when Lewis Hamilton’s car broke down during the formation lap as his Ferrari literally turned off — was unable to accelerate and his car came to a stop.
Verstappen had a similar issue when his Red Bull lost power before getting it back, while Hamilton was told it was a software issue.
Charles Leclerc and other cars on the grid also encountered issues with their engines, and every driver was instructed to come into the pits while the problem was resolved.
The start of the race was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes due to the wet weather and mechanical issues, as officials waited for the track to dry.
The FIA, F1’s governing body, had to issue a software update for all teams to install on the cars to fix the computer algorithm that controls the engine
When the race finally got underway, Hamilton tumbled down the order on slick tyres, with most drivers starting on intermediate tyres.
Hamilton dropped to P15 but drove superbly to finish third despite the disastrous early tyre choice.
“Three hours and 21 minutes since this race was due to start,” Martin Brundle said on Kayo Sports.
“That was one of the craziest Formula 1 races I’ve ever seen. That was absolutely wild.”
The FIA released a statement after the race saying an “unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy management settings and the Sepang circuit’s sector configuration led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars”.
“As a result, the FIA technical department removed the energy limit constraint in the affected sectors through an updated software release distributed to all competitors during the race delay caused by heavy rain enabling teams to make the necessary changes to the power unit before the start of the race.
“This issue had not been detected by the FIA or the teams during testing or during the laps to the grid.
“The FIA, together with the teams and power unit manufactures, will undertake a full review of the issue.”
This is the first year of F1’s new era of engines that have a hybrid power unit combining 1.6-litre turbocharged internal combustion engine with a high-powered electric motor system.
The nature of the engine, and the need to recharge the battery during the race, has led many drivers to hit out at “artificial” racing, pointing out a high number of ‘yo-yo’ overtakes is not correlating to quality racing.
F1’s engine rules will change to reduce the portion of electric energy in the engine in the next two years, but drivers and motorsport fans were not impressed with the engine issues in Malayisa.
“It’s obviously not great what happened,” said Sergio Perez.
“I’m sure we will learn from it, but what happened today is totally unacceptable for the sport.”
“If it was a V8 (naturally) aspirated, it would have never happened,” Carlos Sainz said.
“We all know that.
“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, and today proves it again.”
Australia’s Oscar Piastri finished in sixth, the same spot he began the race, and McLaren said that was the best result that could have been achieved. Lando Norris finished ninth.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said “the reality is that this weekend our car package was 4th in terms of performance.”
“Even if we’d got every decision spot on, I don’t think we could have achieved any higher than Oscar’s 6th place,” he said.
It was Verstappen’s first victory of the season and his first since Abu Dhabi last year. The Dutchman claimed his 72nd career victory, nine years after he won on F1’s last trip to Malaysia.
George Russell was on track for a podium finish but a late power unit failure forced him to retire from the race, handing the Mercedes driver his third DNF of the season.
Russell said he was “beyond disappointment” as luck deserted him late in the race, with his faint championship hopes now all but gone. His Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli finished second and now leads the championship by 84 points.
“You’ve almost got to laugh … it’s just so many times this season it’s happened.
“I don’t need to say I think it’s gone but, of course, it’s exceptionally unlikely and that’s just the reality.”
Bahrain Grand Prix results
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Isack Hadjar, Red Bull
6) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
7) Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
8) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
9) Lando Norris, McLaren
10) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
