# FIA Software Bug Causes Sepang Chaos

> FIA software glitch stranded F1 cars during Bahrain Grand Prix formation lap.
- Title: FIA Software Bug Causes Sepang Chaos · Road & Track | Shortify
- Summary: FIA software glitch stranded F1 cars during Bahrain Grand Prix formation lap. An FIA software bug caused cars to stall on Sepang's wet formation lap, leading…
- Keywords: fia, sepang, bahrain grand prix, software bug, formation lap, power unit, wet weather mode, max verstappen, lewis hamilton, ollie bearman, perez, Software
- Source: Road & Track — https://roadandtrack.com/news/a74017217/how-an-fia-software-bug-saw-bahrain-grand-prix-sepang--chaos
- Author: Adam Cooper
- Published: 2026-10-04T19:33:20+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: fia, f1, sepang, bahrain grand prix, software bug, formation lap, power unit, wet weather mode, max verstappen, lewis hamilton, ollie bearman, perez
## FIA software glitch
An FIA software glitch stranded F1 cars during the Bahrain Grand Prix formation lap on a wet track.
## Formation lap chaos
Cars slowed to near stop on the wet formation lap as the software bug triggered a 60-second power sleep mode.
## Driver reactions
Lewis Hamilton stopped his car and engine to restart, while Ollie Bearman reported his throttle pedal stopped working.

> I had to stop on track and stop the car and engine and restart it
## Perez's experience
Perez described the lack of power as feeling like a rental kart with no time left.

> It felt like you were in a rental karting and you ran out of time basically
## FIA technical response
FIA technical boss Nikolas Tombazis explained the software bug triggered by cars moving at very low speeds.
## Software fix details
The FIA issued a 20-minute software update to override power reductions in some sectors.
## Tombazis on software
The software was developed collaboratively by FIA, teams, and power unit manufacturers with no one anticipating the bug.
## Bug impact
The bug caused cars to enter a loop that prevented reacceleration and led to a 60-second power sleep.

> In some sectors the full power is reduced, and the triggering factor was some cars reaching a very low speed
## FIA's future plans
FIA will improve software testing to prevent similar issues in future races.
## Race outcome
The race resumed after a 20-minute software update with no safety compromises.
## Key takeaway

An FIA software bug caused cars to stall on Sepang's wet formation lap, leading to a 20-minute software fix before the race resumed.