Lewis Hamilton involved in formation lap mayhem as Bahrain GP start suspended

Lewis Hamilton was involved in chaos during a formation lap for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Following a thunderstorm and heavy rain that led to a 40-minute delay at the Sepang International Circuit, the 56-lap race began behind the safety car, and with all the drivers on intermediate tyres.

Initially, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar aquaplaned into a gravel trap at Turn 3 before returning to the track. Later in the lap, polesitter Max Verstappen appeared to back up the pack, only to complain that he was depressing the throttle but getting no power.

Eventually, his Red Bull finally got going again.

Behind him, however, Lewis Hamilton encountered a similar issue, dropping down the order, and at one point it looked as if his race was over when he stopped on the start-finish straight.

The seven-time F1 champion was told over the radio that, "It's a software issue we're trying to solve."

Effectively, the car was rebooted on the track, allowing him to fire up again.

At that point, with other drivers seemingly having their own issues, the FIA opted to suspend the start procedure.

A number of cars managed two laps behind the safety car, others only one.

It meant that when the cars returned to the pit lane, the order of the line up was so chaotic that the safety car was in the middle of the pack.

Following a further delay, the FIA confirmed that the start order would be the original grid, rather than as they filed into the pit lane.

That was crucial for Hamilton, in particular, who had dropped to the back of the pack given his problems.

It was later announced that the race would start at 16:33 local time [09:33 BST].