F1 told to take ‘hard look at itself’ after shambolic mess

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz believes F1 should "have a hard look at itself" after the shambolic formation laps at the wet Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

For the first time at a grand prix, the new 2026 power units were run in wet conditions on Sunday at Sepang, but on the first of two formation laps behidn the safety car to evaluate track conditions, the field almost ground to a halt as cars could not accelerate.

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen nearly ground to a halt, whilst Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon, and Valtteri Bottas did, with the starting procedure then suspended with the field wildly out of original grid order with Hamilton almost 'lapped' by Verstappen before he got going again.

During the red flag, the FIA quickly identified the issue and sent a software patch to all 22 cars which allowed the grand prix to go ahead without further trouble once it started. 

The 2026-spec power units have often been criticised for their reliance on the beefed-up battery systems to produce 50% of their total power output, a rise from around 20% from the 2025 engines, with changes being made in both 2027 and 2028 to reduce battery reliance and increase that of the ICE. 

The regulations were designed in such a way to entice new manufacturers into grand prix racing, with Audi opting to enter as a full works outfit, being unveiled at the 2022 Belgian GP, whilst Honda, General Motors/ and Red Bull-Ford have either returned to F1 as a power unit manufacturer, are planning to do so in the future or teamed up to tackle the new rules.

However, despite this, Sainz, who finished 17th in Sepang, believes questions need to be asked about who signed off on such power units.

"Well, I think Formula 1 needs to have a hard look at itself and see how we ended up in this situation," Sainz told media, including RacingNews365. 

"It is clear the regulations are extremely complicated for the drivers, for the teams, for the PUs, for the manufacturers, and it is too complicated switching power from dry to wet. It is too complicated.

"My only question is, who five years ago decided that this was the direction to go? Now that we are in this situation, I think we're doing the best with what we are given as a sport and the FIA and F1 are doing the best they can with what was decided five years ago. 

"But clearly, what was decided four or five years ago is wrong, and [this] proves it again. 

"So there is not a lot more to say. Let's learn as a sport not to make these mistakes again and not suffer from these strange cases again."