Formula One turned into Formula Farce in Malaysia this morning when what are meant to be the most advanced cars in the world could not move in the wet.
The start was delayed because of rain that fell with increasing strength as the race was about to begin at 3pm local time. There was a 40-minute wait as drivers sat it out in the paddock.
When the lights finally went out for the formation lap, several drivers complained they could not move.
Pole-man Max Verstappen said he could ‘not accelerate’. He later could, randomly picking up pace, but other cars momentarily broke down, including the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, which for a few seconds sat at the side of the track.
He then got going again after a software issue. Others accelerated and then decelerated. It was like nothing ever seen before in the sport. The race was red-flagged.
It is a disastrous look for Formula One in the first meaningful running in the wet of this year’s new half-electric power, which are a split between the old-school internal combustion engine and battery power.
A huge amount of rainfall delayed the start of the Grand Prix in Malaysia
Lewis Hamilton is seen taking cover with the other drivers on the soaking grid
Hamilton’s Ferrari suffered a software problem and several drivers said they couldn’t move
They have rarely been tried out in the wet in practice and qualifying.
Anthony Davidson, the former Honda F1 driver who still tests with Mercedes, said on Sky: ‘A lot of it comes down to the homework that should have been done before these wet conditions. A lot of it can be simulated.
‘Basically, if you run the engines too slowly, the turbo spools down because we don’t have the MGU-H (an engine component) anymore.
‘What’s effectively happening is if you are off throttle for too long, the turbo spools down and when the drivers put their foot back down it uses all the engine juice.
‘As soon as the battery goes flat, you are down to internal combustion engine power only.
‘And because it can’t reach the drivers’ torque demand anymore, because the engine is not creating the power because you have no turbo, you go outside of the FIA’s regulations.
‘It’s all there to stop teams have traction control. It’s incredibly complicated and you fall into this horrible trap where the engine can’t reaccelerate because you are being penalised by this regulation.’
Sweepers on the track were seen working overtime to shunt the excess water off the circuit as staff battled the conditions.
And even though the heavens opened, temperatures were still reaching 34C.
An hour and forty minutes after the original scheduled time, the race finally was able to begin at 4.40pm local time.
Hamilton endured a nightmare start, dropping down 10 places to 12th in tricky conditions, before rescuing a third place finish.
