Max Verstappen slams Sepang start shambles as drivers tell F1 to take ‘hard look at itself’

Max Verstappen has led Formula 1 driver criticism of the shambolic start of the heavily-delayed Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. 

Sunday’s race had already been delayed by a heavy tropical thunderstorm before there were chaotic and unprecedented scenes as a series of bizarre technical problems affected several drivers on the formation lap. 

Both Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were among the drivers seen crawling around the track as their cars suffered power unit gremlins in the first-ever wet event to be held under the new-for-2026 engine regulations. 

With multiple cars grinding to a halt, the attempted start was abandoned before the race finally got going one hour and 40 minutes later than originally planned. 

“That’s the problem that we have. You know, these engines are so complicated and a lot of software is implemented,” Verstappen, who was the first driver plagued by issues on the formation lap, said of the drama. 

"I triggered it first and then I looked in my mirror and I just see... I was like, 'Wait, are they waiting for me or what’s going on?'" 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton had to stop on the main straight to restart his Ferrari, something he said he has never had to do in his near-20-year F1 career. He joked it was "like the LEGO race". 

F1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli described the formation lap as “insane”, adding: “At some point, we were five-wide in the straight because we couldn't understand what was going on.” 

Verstappen went on to claim his first victory of the season in a race that was largely held in dry conditions after the delays allowed the worst of the rain to pass and the track to dry. 

When asked what was going on in his Red Bull RB22 car, the Dutchman replied: “There was nothing going on, that was the problem. 

“It was just like driving at 35 km/h going uphill, actually losing speed. I don't know exactly. Of course, when you go too low in speed and too low RPM for whatever reason then it just bogs down, and normally it takes one or two seconds and it comes back.

“That's basically also what I had in the start, but somehow that didn't trigger in the first software round. And then in the second software round, it was a bit better luckily. 

“Otherwise, I think I would have been stuck as well in the start, which I had probably a few times in the beginning of the year as well when I had a poor start, but that meant that I was last. So at least now it was a bit better.”

The FIA issued a statement explaining that teams were sent updated software to make “necessary changes” to their power units before the race eventually got going. 

“It was because they had to update the software, and then you have to load it into the car,” Verstappen said. “I guess some had some faster laptops than others. That was the delay, just getting the software transfer for everyone. 

“We're partnered with Oracle [Red Bull’s title partner], so we have a very fast connection. We were waiting for half an hour, so maybe some others had a bit of a slower connection.”

'I'd have been disappointed if I was in the stands' 

George Russell, who retired due to an engine failure with five laps remaining, admitted he would have “been a bit disappointed if I was in the stands”. 

“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,” he said. 

“I'd have been a bit disappointed if I was in the stands, watching that unfold, so... that wasn't good. 

“The power units are exceptionally complicated. The more complicated you make things, the more there is to go wrong. So that is obviously something we need to bear in mind for the future.”

Reigning world champion Lando Norris described the chaotic situation as “horrible” and believes it “just proves that we shouldn't have any of that stuff on the electronic side”. 

Meanwhile, Williams driver Carlos Sainz claimed 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,” the Spaniard 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. 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.”