From Motorsport · Ronald Vording · · 1m 30s
FIA Software Bug Causes F1 Chaos in Malaysia
FIA software bug at Sepang led to cars stalling during formation laps, forcing a 40-minute race delay.
In brief
FIA software bug at Sepang led to cars stalling during formation laps, forcing a 40-minute race delay. FIA's software bug caused cars to stall at low speeds during formation laps, triggering a 40-minute race delay in Malaysia. Originally reported by Motorsport.
FIA software bug at Sepang
Extremely low speeds behind the safety car triggered an unexpected problem with the FIA software at Sepang.
Race chaos during formation laps
Leader Max Verstappen suffered power loss while driving slowly during formation laps behind the safety car.
FIA director explains bug
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis confirmed a software bug caused all the chaos during formation laps.
Cars stalled due to bug
The bug prevented power redeployment and caused cars to almost stop completely during formation laps.
Throttle pedal malfunction
Drivers reported throttle pedal stopped working, with engines idling and no acceleration response.
FIA emergency fix
FIA lifted energy limit constraints for minisectors where low speeds triggered the bug.
Race delay consequences
Race control stopped the race with a red flag, causing a 40-minute delay before fans saw F1 action.
Why bug occurred
Cars reached extremely low speeds in minisectors, which the software wasn't designed to handle.
FIA's response
FIA implemented an emergency software update to override power reductions in affected minisectors.
Race restart
Teams installed updated software, causing a 40-minute delay before the race restarted.
The main idea
FIA's software bug caused cars to stall at low speeds during formation laps, triggering a 40-minute race delay in Malaysia.
