F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia descends into chaos as car trouble prompts red flag

The Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, being held in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit, was red-flagged after several cars experienced power unit problems during a wet set of formation laps. A heavy tropical thunderstorm had hit the area before the event. The race was initially set to start with a number of laps behind the safety car followed by a standing start.

Multiple cars, including those driven by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, suffered from a lack of acceleration due to power unit gremlins in the rain. Verstappen, who was on pole position, and Hamilton, who was in second place, both managed to get going again after initially stalling. Other drivers, such as Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi, also struggled with similar issues.

The problems led to the suspension of the start procedure and the deployment of a red flag by race control. The event was the first-ever wet Formula 1 race under the 2026 regulations.

Brief written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com, Yahoo Sports, Winnipeg Free Press — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.