- Published
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton likened the effects of a software bug that affected multiple cars before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to a "Lego race".
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that → publish → race
The problem led to several cars, including those of the two multiple world champions who were sharing the front row of the grid, not working in the wet conditions that preceded the race.
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that → lead → race
A tropical downpour delayed attempts to get the grand prix under way for the best part of an hour.
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downpour → delay → hour
And when the cars set off on formation laps behind a safety car to test the conditions, audiences were treated to the bizarre sight of many of them struggling to move.
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many → set → them
A bug in the software that mandates how the engines' electrical power can be used in wet conditions had been triggered by a combination of low engine speeds, low grip and specific aspects of the circuit layout.
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power → mandate → layout
Verstappen, who went on to take a dominant win that was his first victory of the year, said: "These engines are so complicated and a lot of software is implemented.
"
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lot → go → software
I triggered [the problem] first and then I looked in my mirror, I was like, 'Wait, are they waiting for me or what's going [on]...?'
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what → trigger → me
Verstappen was referring to a show run in battery-powered Lego F1 cars that was held before the British Grand Prix in July.
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that → refer → July
Hamilton, sitting beside Verstappen in the post-race news conference after finishing third, interjected to say: "Yeah, we had the same speed.
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we → sit → speed
I had to stop on track and stop the car and engine and restart it.
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I → have → it
I've never done that before."
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I → do → that
Verstappen added: "It was insane.
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It → add → ?
At some point we were five-wide on the straight because we couldn't understand what was going on.
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what → understand → straight
Then we did a lap and then I see eight other cars crawling still, and I saw you (Hamilton) by yourself crawling.
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you → do → yourself
That's not what you want, right, for the sport."
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you → want → sport
Mercedes driver George Russell, who retired from the race with an engine failure, said: "It didn't feel very F1."
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It → retire → failure
Nikolas Tombazis, the single-seater director for governing body the FIA said there would be a full investigation.
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Tombazis → say → FIA
The issue arose, he added, because, while the software had been tested, it had not been tested in these specific conditions.
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it → arise → conditions
"Cars are complicated," Tombazis said.
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Tombazis → say → ?
"We would all like it to be simpler, but when you have electrical energy and combustion energy all working together, and obviously when you want to ensure that there's sporting fairness between the teams, that is complicated.
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that → like → teams
We haven't done a full debrief of the situation and see how we can avoid such an issue.
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we → do → issue
Every race, we have a long debrief afterwards, where we identify criticalities.
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we → have → criticalities
"Obviously, that was a major criticality, and we need to make sure we avoid it.
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we → need → it
Can I guarantee it will never happen again?
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it → guarantee → ?
A problem, no, but we will do our best to avoid it, of course."
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we → do → course
This is far from the first issue created by the huge complexity of the latest hybrid engines introduced this year, with their near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power.
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This → create → combustion
Because the engines are fundamentally energy starved, and so cannot deploy their full combined power output at all times, a series of complexities were added into the management of the engines to try to sticking-plaster solutions.
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series → starve → solutions
Many of these led to the counter-intuitive driving about which many of the sport's stars have been complaining all season - and more changes have been added since.
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changes → lead → stars
Off-track conversation has been dominated by this all year, and rules are changing for next year to alter the energy split to try to ameliorate the issue.
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rules → dominate → issue
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: "What happened at the start obviously is not ideal in terms of presentation of the sport.
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happened → say → sport
"But at the same time it is the first year of new regulations, quite complex from a regulatory point of view, and it was also the first time we started in such conditions.
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we → start → conditions
So we have to concede that F1 has done an excellent job in making some new regulations that came with some question marks from a power-unit behaviour point of view when it came to racing for instance.
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it → have → instance
We have to acknowledge there has been really good work to make the show and racing work, and if there are some glitches occasionally, we have to accept they are glitches for everyone, be supportive and make sure it doesn't happen again."
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it → have → everyone
The problem had a secondary consequence - the field order was jumbled up, and one reading of the rules could have meant the grid order should change for any restart.
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order → jumble → restart
But while the FIA's software engineers were rewriting the code as fast as possible, it was determined that, as this situation had never occurred before, and as the problem was out of any competitor's control, the most appropriate order was to revert to the original grid.
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order → rewrite → grid
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord said: "If you think of the millions of people watching around the world, they tune in for the start and suddenly the cars are all in a jumbled up order because of something that happened 40 minutes earlier and it was behind a safety car on a formation lap.
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it → say → lap
That would have been a much harder thing to explain than resetting and then going from where we did.
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we → explain → ?
"
Verstappen's 'amazing' win crowns Red Bull comeback
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win → crown → comeback
"Amazing" was the word Verstappen chose to describe his and Red Bull's first win of the 2026 season at a chaotic, bizarre and, in some ways, unprecedented race.
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Verstappen → choose → race
It would be wrong to say the victory was a complete surprise, as it came after three consecutive podium finishes in which the four-time champion appeared to be edging closer and closer to such an achievement.
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champion → say → achievement
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
