Croft Blasts FIA Over Bahrain GP Software 'Farce' — SkimNews
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- David Croft lambasted the FIA on the F1 Show podcast, calling the Sepang scenes a "farce" and questioning why wet-weather scenarios were not simulated despite a Barcelona shakedown and six days of pre-season testing in Bahrain before the 2026 campaign began.
- The FIA confirmed the glitch stemmed from low engine speeds, low grip, wet-weather energy-management settings and the Sepang circuit configuration during the first wet running of a season that introduced a new power unit almost 50% electric.
- Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's single-seater director, acknowledged after the race that the software had not been tested sufficiently in those conditions, admitting "there are bugs all the time with software."
- Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and multiple midfield runners nearly ground to a halt after leaving the pit lane on a rain-delayed start, with the FIA's emergency software fix taking around 20 minutes to install though the overall disruption lasted about 40 minutes.
- Max Verstappen still won the race, with Kimi Antonelli second and Hamilton completing the podium after a dramatic recovery, but Croft said the software row had hijacked headlines from what he called "sensational racing" at a brilliant track.
Why it matters: The FIA has pledged a full review with teams and power-unit manufacturers ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix — the final Sprint weekend of the season — while the incident exposes an untested gap in the new era of nearly 50% electric power units that Croft argues should have been stress-tested in the wet long before going racing.
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