Formula 1 drivers describe how they experienced the chaos in Malaysia – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explains why the FIA should not be criticised too harshly
‘The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was one of the craziest races I’ve ever seen in Formula 1,’ writes Martin Brundle in his latest column for Sky. That’s saying something, as the 67-year-old has been at the heart of the sport for more than four decades – first as a driver, later as a pundit.
The first attempt at the start on Sunday, in particular, produced some of the most absurd images in the history of the sport. A software bug paralysed several cars at once, meaning the start procedure had to be abandoned. A second attempt was only made after a software update had been carried out on all the cars.
What looked particularly bizarre on TV screens wasn’t at all funny for the drivers themselves. “I had no idea the FIA could control our accelerator. It was actually quite frightening,” says Haas driver Oliver Bearman, for example, who was also affected by the problem.
For Sergio Perez, driving without power felt “like being in a hire kart”. “I’m sure we’ll learn from this as a sport. But what happened today is completely unacceptable for the sport,” the Mexican also criticised in no uncertain terms.
” “If the turbo isn’t working on these cars, you might as well push the car instead of using the engine. That was pretty bizarre,” adds Oscar Piastri, whilst team-mate Lando Norris describes Sunday’s situation as “terrible”.
Why Andrea Stella doesn’t want to criticise the FIA
“It simply proves that we shouldn’t have this sort of thing – this electronic aspect – in the first place,” says the world champion, whose team principal, however, is not quite as critical. “I think we have to acknowledge that Formula 1 has done an excellent job in drawing up the new rules,” clarifies Andrea Stella.
Whilst he admits there are “still a few question marks regarding the behaviour of the power units”, he emphasises that such problems must be “accepted”, particularly in the first year of the regulations. “If we think about the teams, there are many [Probleme],” he points out.
For example, at the second race of the season in China, neither of the two McLaren cars was able to take part in the race. Stella explains that, for this reason, he does not wish to criticise the FIA too harshly for a simple software bug.
“I wouldn’t say that this fell short of the required standards, bearing in mind that, as competitors, we have to contend with numerous problems virtually every weekend,” explains the McLaren team principal self-critically.
“And whether this concerns the sport or general software issues, I believe we should show understanding and support one another to ensure that something like this does not happen again,” says Stella.
