Max Verstappen has criticised Formula 1’s engine regulations following a chaotic rain-affected Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, comparing the championship’s complex power units to “LEGO” after software issues caused widespread power loss.
Although the Red Bull driver secured his 72nd career grand prix victory and the first win for Red Bull’s in-house powertrain project, Verstappen was left frustrated by a bizarre glitch that struck when rain hit the track ahead of the race.
Multiple drivers, including Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, encountered major issues on the formation lap.
“That’s the problem that we have,” Verstappen said during the post-race press conference when asked about the engine complications in wet conditions. “These engines are so complicated and a lot of software is implemented.
“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?’ It was like the LEGO race. It’s the LEGO power. At some point we were five-wide on the straight because we couldn’t understand what was going on.”
Verstappen explained that the issue stemmed from engine software.
“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,” he said.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Ashwith S Pai
“That’s basically also what I had at 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 would’ve been stuck as well at the start, which I had probably a few times in the beginning of the year as well when I had a poor start, but it meant that I was lost. So at least now it was a bit better.”
The FIA released a statement explaining what happened on the formation lap.
“On the formation lap ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy management systems and the Sepang circuit’s sector configuration led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars,” the FIA stated.
“As a result, the FIA technical department removed the energy limit constraint in the affected sectors through an updated software release distributed to all competitors during the race delay caused by heavy rain enabling teams to make the necessary changes to the power unit before the start of the race.
“This issue had not been detected by the FIA or the teams during testing or during the laps to the grid. The FIA, together with the teams and power unit manufacturers, will undertake a full review of the issue.”
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