 |
| LAT Images |
"Horrible," "sad," and "totally unacceptable" were among the reactions of Formula 1's drivers to the sport's farcical attempt at going racing in wet conditions at Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
A deluge of rain as the cars arrived on the grid resulted in the start of the race being delayed by 40 minutes before the first attempt was made to get racing underway behind a Safety Car.
But before the cars could complete a single lap behind the Safety Car, a bug in the software supplied to all teams by the FIA resulted in multiple drivers losing power and dropping down the order.
Initially Max Verstappen, who was set to start from pole position, lost power, before Lewis Hamilton, who was alongside him on the front row of the grid, ground to a halt and had to restart his Ferrari's power unit on the pit straight.
The FIA later said that "an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy management settings and the Sepang circuit's sector configuration led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars."
But several drivers chose to sum up the situation more concisely, pointing the finger squarely at this year's complicated power unit regulations.
 |
| Getty |
"[It was] horrible," reigning champion Lando Norris said. "It proves that we shouldn't have any of that stuff on the electronic side."
When the issue became apparent, all cars were told to return to the pits where a software patch was supplied by the FIA and uploaded by each team.
The resulting delay meant the start of the race was over 90 minutes behind schedule.
"We missed some good racing, wet tyres at the beginning, we should have been out there running," Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll said. "Instead cars are fixing their software issues, it's a bit sad to see."
Cadillac driver Sergio Pérez added: "I mean it's obviously not great what happened today -- I'm sure we will learn from it as a sport, but what happened today is totally unacceptable for the sport."
For many drivers it was further proof that this year's regulations, which were designed so that nearly 50% of the car's power comes from its battery, are overcomplicated.
"That's the problem that we have, these engines are so complicated and a lot of software is implemented," race winner Verstappen said. "When there is some kind of error or glitch, or whatever you want to call it, that's the problem.
"I triggered it first, then I look in my mirror, and I just see everyone ... I was like wait, are they waiting for me or?"
Hamilton, who was sat next to Verstappen in the press conference after finishing third, likened the situation to Lego's marketing stunt at the British Grand Prix where all the drivers were given electric go-karts to race against each other.
"It was like the Lego race!" Hamilton said.
"Yeah, we had the same speed," Verstappen responded.
Kimi Antonelli, who finished second in Sunday's race, chimed in: "It was insane. Like at some point we were five-wide in the straight, because we couldn't understand what was going on."
 |
| Getty Images |
Williams driver Carlos Sainz called on the sport to "have a hard look at themselves and see how we ended up in this situation."
"It is clear the regs are extremely complicated for the drivers, for the teams, for the PUs [power units], for the manufacturers. It is too complicated," he added.
"Again, my only question mark is who, five years ago, decided that this was the direction to go?
"We are doing the best with what we are given as a sport and as regulations. The FIA and F1 are doing the best they can with what was decided four or five years ago, but clearly what was decided four or five years ago is wrong ...
"Not a lot more to say -- just learn as a sport not to do those mistakes again and not suffer from the same strange cases."
Once racing got underway, the track dried up and the grand prix featured two further Safety Car periods to clear cars that retired from the race in dangerous locations.
George Russell, who retired with a power unit issue under the final safety car period, said the fans that turned up to Malaysia's first grand prix since 2017 deserved a better show.
"The whole day felt like a bit of a faff, with the delay and then the red flag and then endless laps under the safety car and then suddenly doing extra laps to allow Checo [Sergio Pérez] to overtake [behind the Safety Car], it didn't feel very F1 today," he said.
"I'd have been a bit disappointed if I was in the stands, watching that unfold, so ... That wasn't good."
- Laurence Edmonson
No comments:
Post a Comment