F1 drivers shocked following bizarre problem that caused huge delay

It was a bizarre sight that was ultimately not a good look for Formula 1.

On the formation lap for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, the pinnacle of motorsport was made to look like "the Lego race", as pointed out by seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton after the event at the Sepang International Circuit had concluded.

That was with reference to last year's 'race' in Miami when the drivers clambered aboard near life-size F1 Lego cars ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, and had more fun over one lap than on many occasions in their own F1 machinery.

As the formation lap unfolded behind the safety car in Sepang, deployed following a thunderstorm and torrential downpour to test the track and get driver feedback on whether there should be a standing start, a number started touring remarkably slowly.

Sparked by polesitter Max Verstappen out front, others followed, including Hamilton, who eventually stopped on the start-finish straight where a reboot was effectively required to get his SF-26 moving again.

The FIA is to undertake a full review of the incident that led to a delay of over an hour, as the sporting body's Technical Department was forced to implement an updated software release due to "an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather management settings and the Sepang circuit's sector configuration" which " led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars".

Naturally, many drivers were shocked, confused, and unhappy with what unfolded.

Check out their comments below. 

Max Verstappen - "These engines are so complicated, and a lot of software is implemented, and when there is something like this, that's the problem. What can you say? I mean, that's not what you want for the sport? Hopefully, there is a lesson learned."

Kimi Antonelli - "It was insane. At some point, we were five wide in the straight because we couldn't understand what was going on."

George Russell -  "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."

Lando Norris - "[It was] Horrible! It just proves that we shouldn't have any of that stuff, the electronic side, with what happened."

Pierre Gasly - "It was like the most chaotic formation lap I've had in my career, and with limited information. It was very strange."

Gabriel Bortoleto -  "It's not great, is it? It's just a shame because maybe a wet race could have been interesting, but the issue happened, we had to fix it, and it took a lot of time."

Liam Lawson - "I had no radio; I knew I had no radio before I even pulled away for the formation lap. I was very stressed because there are a lot of procedures you have to do, especially in this year's car. I was like, 'I have no idea what's going on'. It was very confusing when all the cars were slowing down. I couldn't talk to the team; I didn't know if I was allowed to overtake or what."

Sergio Perez - "It felt like you were in a rental [go-] kart and you ran out of time. It's obviously not great what happened. I'm sure we will learn from it as a sport, but what happened is totally unacceptable for the sport."

Charles Leclerc - "I don't want to be so extreme with my words, but surely it's not good enough. We've been raising these issues, and I hope that we fix them. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any short-term solutions. These problems are the result of decisions made quite a long time ago, and changing that is going to take time."

Arvid Lindblad - "It was a bit weird. You're kind of like, 'What's what's going on here'. At one point I had no power; the pedal just didn't work. I've had it before in the sim, but the sim sometimes has weird stuff that happens. When you're in a real car, and you're pressing the throttle and the thing just doesn't move, it's a bit weird."

Ollie Bearman -" I was shocked! I didn't even know the FIA could control our throttle pedal [laughs]. But I got a glitch in my throttle pedal. That's a new experience in Formula 1. I don't think we were expecting that one."