Lando Norris brands farcical F1 scenes 'horrible' as chaos erupts

Lando Norris has branded the scenes on the formation lap of F1's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia as "horrible" as chaos erupted.

With the start delayed by 40 minutes, the 22-car field began to make the first of two tours behind the safety car before a standing start, but Max Verstappen slowed to a crawl as Lewis Hamilton stopped on track, reporting no power as the field passed by. 

Hamilton eventually got going again, but others also stopped, including Esteban Ocon, with the start sequence then suspended and the red flags brought out for just under another hour. 

Eventually, the race resumed without further complication, with Norris racing for points throughout, and eventually taking ninth following a late scare after taking avoiding action under the safety car to avoid ramming into team-mate Oscar Piastri at Turn 1. 

Reflecting, Norris, a fierce critic of the current engine regulations, felt the episode had proved "we shouldn't have any of that stuff."

"Horrible," was Norris's initial reaction to media, including RacingNews365 of the farcical scenes.

"It just proves that we shouldn't have any of that stuff, the electronic side. 

"We can't say any more than what we've already said. It is all coding stuff, and stuff to do with how the battery works."

Norris was then asked about the "driving erratically" charge he must account for to the stewards for nearly ramming into Piastri. 

He explained that the incident was due, in part, to George Russell's retirement.

"It was because everyone just hit the brakes into Turn 1 because of George," Norris said.

"I was far enough back that I couldn't really see how slowly they were going, and it caught me out."