Verstappen wins chaotic Bahrain GP after software bug turns start into 'Lego race'

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix, his first victory of the year, after a tropical downpour and a strange software fault turned the start into chaos.

The race was held up for the best part of an hour. Rain hammered the Bahrain circuit and forced officials to delay attempts to get going while they waited for conditions to improve, BBC Sport reported.

When the cars finally left the pits, they did so for slow formation laps behind the safety car. Those laps are used to check the track is safe enough to race. Many cars could barely get going. Several struggled to move at all, including the two on the front row of the grid shared by Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen and Hamilton both likened what followed to a "Lego race". Verstappen said he meant the parade in battery-powered Lego Formula 1 cars that drivers drove before the British Grand Prix in July.

The cause was a bug in shared software. It governs how the engine's electrical power can be used in wet conditions. In simple terms, modern F1 cars pair a petrol engine with electric power, and the rules set strict limits on when that electric boost can kick in.

That system had been tested, but not in this exact mix. The fault was triggered by low engine speeds, low grip and specific features of the Bahrain layout, according to the report. With wheels spinning slowly on a soaked track, the software cut power when drivers needed it most.

Hamilton said he had to stop on track, shut the car and engine down completely and restart it during those exploratory laps. Verstappen said teams used the long delay to try to load a fix to cope with the slippery conditions, Associated Press reported. He wants a lesson learned from the episode.

When racing finally started properly, Verstappen came through to win. Hamilton, the seven-time champion, finished third. Mercedes had a mixed night. George Russell retired with an engine failure.

Motorsport's governing body, the FIA, has promised a full review. Its single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the software had been tested but not in these specific conditions, largely because there had been so little running in the wet this year.

What makes this stand out is the rarity of it. Formula 1 stops for rain, but rarely because the cars forget how to drive in it. For fans, this means the talking point from Bahrain is as much about code as driving.