Confusion reigned when Formula 1 drivers headed out to begin yesterday’s grand prix.

A software glitch struck much of the grid, causing some cars to slow to a crawl and others to stop entirely. Some power units sprang back into life while others stubbornly refused to work again.

Eventually race control abandoned the attempt to start the race and summoned the field back into the pits so the FIA could issue a software update. The process took the best part of an hour.

The problem was widespread throughout the field and affected drivers in different ways. Here’s how several of them experienced the fault.

1st: Max Verstappen

Verstappen’s car almost came to a stop at the front of the field. However a switch change on his steering wheel solved the problem for him.

Verstappen	Verstappen slows at turn 10 Well, this is fucked. I can’t accelerate.
Lambiase	OK, stand by.
Verstappen	Why doesn’t it work?
Lambiase	Stand by.
Verstappen	It’s not working, guys.
Lambiase	Yep stand by Max, we’re looking. Let’s have fail one fail please, Max. Fail one fail. The car accelerates away
Lambiase	Looks like maybe Lewis has a similar problem to you. He’s still struggling between turn 11 and turn 12.

Expecting the start to go ahead, Verstappen was unhappy that the side of the grid he was due to start from was wetter than the opposite side.

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Verstappen	The right on the grid is not fair, left looks drier, my side.
Lambiase	Understood, thank you.
Lambiase	So Max, to try and avoid what happened there on that last lap, let’s keep the engine revs up in the corners please, so as low a gear as you can possibly run.
Verstappen	[Unclear]
Lambiase	Yeah, there is a long train of cars struggling, crawling: both Audis, Hamilton, Haas. I don’t think this is related to individual engine issues here Max, I think there’s some kind of relation. So Hamilton has got going. You have both Cadillacs, both Haas, both Audis crawling ahead of you, as is Lindblad.

Verstappen laughed when he saw several cars stuck on the back straight due to the software problem. However he was less amused to spot a nail in his tyre when he returned to the pits.

Verstappen	Verstappen follows the Safety Car to the back straight where several cars are stuck Well, look at this. [Laughs]
Lambiase	Red flag. Red flag. They’re coming into the pit lane. Slow button please, Max, slow button.
Lambiase	Just confirming Max, follow the Safety Car ahead into the pit lane.
Lambiase	This shouldn’t be too long, Max.
Verstappen	There’s a nail in my tyre.
Lambiase	On front left.
Verstappen	Front left.
Lambiase	Thank you. [Message cuts out] issue. Some kind of… [Message cuts out]

2nd: Lewis Hamilton

The fault struck Hamilton’s car at the same time as Verstappen’s. As a result, he appeared not to realise the Red Bull driver was suffering from the same problem as him. Ferrari had more difficulty finding a solution for Hamilton.

Hamilton	I’ve lost power.
Santi	We are checking.
Hamilton	Something’s happened, I’ve got no… I’m just ticking over in first gear.
Santi	Coming back to you.
Hamilton	Throttle’s not doing anything.
Santi	No action for the moment.
Hamilton	I’m pressing the throttle, nothing’s happening.
Santi	We are coming back to you.
Hamilton	What can I do?
Santi	At the moment we have no action, we are looking to… Try a single click of the boost, try a single click of the boost.

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Hamilton correctly predicted the loss of power was due to the special settings used to configure the power units for each circuit.

Hamilton	The engine’s still running, but I just got no power. Must be something with the track.
Santi	Try, mode race, mode race.
Hamilton	Yeah, still nothing. I think something’s happened with the track that’s done it to me and two cars behind.
Santi	This is a software issue we are trying to solve.
Hamilton	Anything I can do? Should I stop and reboot the car?
Santi	Yes, we switch off, switch off. Then wait five seconds then ignition on and fire up again
Hamilton	It worked, I’ve got power again.

Santi sounded jubilant when Ferrari realised restarting the car had worked. However the team was unsure whether, when the race restarted, Hamilton would be allowed to line up on the front row of the grid.

Santi	Car is working! So just go ahead, without rush, we have time, and… red flag, red flag. So red flag we are coming back to the pit lane.
Santi	Okay, understood.
Santi	So stay positive, we have time, it is a red flag. And pit limiter when you enter the pit lane. And switch off, but stay in P1.
Hamilton	And we still keep our position.?
Hamilton	Are we now last?
Santi	We are double-checking because it’s an issue that probably is not up to us.
Hamilton	Yeah, other cars had the same problem, no?
Santi	Yes.

3rd: Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Third-placed Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the first driver who appeared to be unaffected by the problem.

Bonnington	For information, Hadjar aquaplaned inside turn three, a puddle.
Bonnington	Kimi can you give us an update on spray and visibility?
Antonelli	Er, Max has a problem I think.
Bonnington	Affirm we think he may have a PU issue, stand by. We shall confirm
Bonnington	Looks like Verstappen’s got back going again.
Antonelli	I don’t know what Lewis is doing.
Bonnington	I don’t know, he may need rolling wait revs, so it’s a boost issue, may be rolling wait revs. So we just hold position, hold position.
Bonnington	You can pass now, you can pass Lewis now, he has an issue.
Bonnington	And we’ll keep going round, so extra formation laps. The Safety Car is at turn three.
Bonnington	Safety Car currently at turn six. Casing temps are climbing.
Bonnington	Safety Car exit 11.

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Although he had seen Verstappen’s Red Bull-Ford power unit experience the problem, Antonelli’s race engineer Peter Bonnington suggested it was confined to Ferrari’s power units. However Lando Norris, who like Antonelli uses Mercedes power, also experienced a loss of power.

Bonnington	Safety Car is about to catch all the back markers, they are ahead of the Safety Car now. So red flag, red flag. So keep delta positive, no overtaking until we say. So we’ll be into pit lane, and we’ll go strat mode one. So it looks like all the Ferrari power units are struggling. So it’ll be into pit lane and staying in the fast lane. The guys will meet you down the end.
Bonnington	So we’ll just follow Safety Car and Verstappen into the pit lane. And just remember pit limiter, there’ll be pit limiter on the way in. Pit limiter, pit limiter.
Antonelli	Track is drying crazily quick. Do we stay in or jump out?
Antonelli	Yeah, also we’re carrying a lot more speed in 5.6. Yeah, radius good.

4th: Charles Leclerc

Both Ferrari drivers suffered a loss of power. However Charles Leclerc’s power unit came back to life more easily than his team mate’s.

Bozzi	Standing water turn three, seven and twelve.
Bozzi	We don’t know what Max is doing. Still no info from…
Leclerc	I think he is just leaving the gap. Probably the Safety Car…
Bozzi	No he had an issue, he had an issue.
Leclerc	Leclerc discovers he cannot accelerate Oh… I’m stuck
Bozzi	Yes, now he moved again.
Leclerc	I’m stuck, I’m stuck. I don’t have power.
Bozzi	Copy. The other cars as well. We’ll see if it’s the same that Max had.
Leclerc	I am passing. Everyone has a problem.
Bozzi	You can pass.
Bozzi	Try mode race. Leclerc’s car accelerates again

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Leclerc expressed doubt over some of the instructions he received from race engineer Bryan Bozzi.

Bozzi	You can regain your positions.
Leclerc	Can I?
Bozzi	Yes you can.
Leclerc	I’m too late.
Bozzi	You can, you can, we’ve been told you can so just regain your positions.
Leclerc	On the grid?
Bozzi	Max is still behind the Safety Car in turn four so just work your tyres and regain positions.
Bozzi	Leclerc catches the queue of cars which are behind the stuck cars So we come back into the pit lane and we will restart the starting order.
Leclerc	What happened there?
Bozzi	So, software issue. Cars remained in pending. You were not the only car.
Bozzi	You will come through the pit lane.
Leclerc	Am I? Or…
Bozzi	Yeah, everyone comes into the pit lane.

5th: Lando Norris

Lando Norris’s car also lost power around the same time as Verstappen, which led to some confusion between him and race engineer Will Joseph. However the problem cleared up quickly for Norris.

Joseph	Lando can we have strat 14, strat 14.
Norris	Happening? I’ve got no power at all.
Joseph	Verstappen has an issue, he can’t accelerate.
Norris	But we all do.
Joseph	He’s going now
Norris	Everyone’s stuck with no power. So did I. I have the same problem.
Norris	Can we overtake if they have this issue?
Joseph	Do not overtake at the moment.
Norris	But we have to, mate, they’re almost stopped. We have to overtake Ferrari, he has a problem.
Joseph	You can overtake Hamilton, you can overtake Hamilton.
Norris	I had almost the same issue so please double-check what it was. Out of nine, stuck in low power.
Joseph	Copy Lando, we’re looking.

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Norris skidded off the track at turn 12 while trying to catch up. He believed this was also related to his car’s power delivery.

Joseph	Lando we expect Leclerc to come back through and overtake you.
Joseph	And Lando anything we can do for the front-right temperature.
Joseph	Lando any comments on the conditions?
Norris	Yeah they seem like they’re getting a little bit better.
Joseph	Lando they’ve had a lot of cars slow in turn 15. So Lando just queue behind the Safety Car when you get there. Norris goes off and rejoins at turn 12
Norris	Something happened. What happened in… fuck. The session is red-flagged
Joseph	Red flag, red flag.
Norris	I don’t know what happened in the middle of 12.
Joseph	Yeah copy, we see it, we’re looking.
Norris	Something from the PU.
Joseph	Lando, head into the pit lane behind the Safety Car.

6th: Oscar Piastri

Unlike his team mate, Piastri did not experience a loss of power.

Stallard	The field ahead slows Don’t worry, Oscar. Piastri passes Norris
Piastri	Can I…
Stallard	Do not overtake at the moment, do not overtake. Piastri lets Norris past again
Stallard	You may overtake Hamilton. Piastri passes Hamilton and Leclerc
Engineer	Oscar the Safety Car stayed out so you’re driving straight past the pit lane. Safety Car currently in turn three.
Stallard	Leclerc should come back and overtake you.
Stallard	Oscar anything you can do for front temperature, particularly font-right, we’ll take.
Engineer	Just queue behind the Safety Car when you get there. There’s a lot of slow cars between 14 and 15. And Oscar when you’re going slowly, near the bottom of the pack, we need progressive throttle inputs. Boost will be low when you press the throttle.
Stallard	Red flag, red flag, no overtaking.
Stallard	Oscar these stationary cars, if the Safety Car goes past, you can pass the stationary cars. Do not pass the cars which are moving.

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7th: George Russell

Russell received similar messages to team mate Antonelli.

Dudley	Hadjar has been through the gravel at turn three.
Dudley	Hadjar was aquaplaning at turn three apex on the inside of the corner.
Russell	So he was tight?
Dudley	Affirm.
Dudley	Verstappen going slowly, I think he has an issue.
Dudley	Lost boost. I need to do rolling wait ramps?
Dudley	Affirm, no problem Okay, Max is going again now.
Russell	I think Kimi should overtake Lewis. Kimi just needs to overtake, he’s going too slow.
Dudley	We’re talking. Okay so Lewis has a problem, we can go past him. So boost is coming back to us, just [unclear] load.

The Mercedes driver suspected the Ferrari drivers could lose their starting positions because they were overtaken by other cars.

Russell	If Leclerc and Lewis are not in position by the Safety Car line, do they not need to start from the pit lane?
Dudley	Only at the restart, only at the restart, but just keep an eye on it if they do start. Safety Car is currently turn five.
Dudley	Lewis is still going slowly between 14 and 15. Safety Car turn nine.
Dudley	So Lewis stopped between 14 and 15. The Safety Car is at turn of 14 but we’ve still got backmarkers on that straight. Safety Car is catching the backmarkers. The Safety Car is going to slow right down, red flag, red flag. The Safety Car’s stopped exit of 14. We’ve got cars stopped on the track right-hand side between 14 and 15. Go strat one. So we’ll just follow the Safety Car. So we’ll be following the Safety Car into the pit lane, stay in the fast lane.
Russell	Change the tyres. Yeah, copy.
Dudley	Remember pit limiter when we come into the pit lane.
Russell	Yeah, what on earth is going on?
Dudley	It looks like all the Ferrari power unit cars were struggling there.

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8th: Isack Hadjar

As the conditions were so poor, some teams considered using second gear at the start, but Red Bull opted for first for Hadjar.

Hadjar	Start on the start, second gear, first gear, tell me, talk to me.
Wood	Okay it’s gets 30 seconds.
Hadjar	Hello, second or first?
Wood	First gear, standard release, first gear, standard release.
Hadjar	First standard, okay.
Wood	First standard. Yep, confirmed.
Hadjar	Hadjar pulls away Yeah sorry okay.
Wood	So we’re on the wet brake shape and mode 10, work the tyres, mode 10.

Hadjar spun off early in the first lap and had to pass cars to regain his starting place.

Wood	And work the tyres, all the work on these tyres. Hadjar spins off
Hadjar	Check the floor.
Wood	Yeah, we will do. So you need to regain your position before safety car line one. You need to gain your position.
Hadjar	Yeah, yeah, yeah. Check the floor.
Wood	We will check the floor. So it’s three cars ahead. So there’s also standing water seven and 12. Standing water turn seven and twelve. The pack is backing up ahead of you, you get your position back.
Hadjar	Yeah, I need something on the diff.
Wood	Copy.
Hadjar	To help the traction? Yeah, it’s really wet.

However the delay triggered by his team mate’s problem – which Hadjar’s race engineer referred to cautiously – allowed him to catch up:

Hadjar	Is there a restart? What’s happening?
Wood	Mid-six, mid-six. So Max has a power… well, he’s struggling to keep pace at the present, he is struggling to keep pace. There’s no confirmation of the start yet. Just continue to work your tyres.
Hadjar	Yeah I’m trying but we’re so slow, Hamilton is not moving, come on
Wood	And entry eight, entry eight.
Hadjar	Mate, what’s happening? What is happening?
Wood	Hamilton is very slow, I’m not sure if he has a problem.
Hadjar	Yeah but mate, this is… we need to go now. Tyres are getting cold.
Wood	So you can pass, the cars can pass Hamilton, so once they pass in queue, pass Hamilton. He has a technical issue. And work the tyres. It’s multiple formation laps here, mate, probably multiple formation.
Hadjar	And Leclerc as well, or what? I don’t know what’s happening.
Wood	He’s going again now.

Red Bull advised Hadjar how to avoid suffering the same problem other drivers had with their power units:

Wood	Okay, so recommend passing over our grid spot on the start finish over the multiple. Recommend passing over our grid spot.
Hadjar	How is the floor?
Wood	Feedback [unclear] so far, I’ll keep you updated.
Wood	Isack, so we need to stay above idle speed to prevent an issue, stay above idle speed, to prevent an issue with the engine.
Hadjar	What does that mean?
Wood	So do not let it go down to idle, do not let it, go down to engine idling. Keep normal pace here, it’s good, you’re doing a good job.
Hadjar	Yeah.
Wood	Recommend push-toggle, recommend push-Toggle. Okay, so we have a lot of cars stopped on the back straight. Just information just now.
Hadjar	The tyres are getting colder
Wood	They are going to come back to you, you’re doing a really good job, mate, you are doing a good job. So red flag, red flag. Do not pass, do not pass. it’ll be into the pit lane. We’ve got multiple cars stopped on the back straight, follow the Safety Car. Multiple cars stopped, on the backs straight. And we’ll have slow button on. Slow button on. We are checking the floor.
Hadjar	I need something cleaned inside of my visor. I can’t see anything.
Hadjar	Okay, copy, we’ll default to a helmet swap.
Hadjar	No, no, the other one doesn’t have the right. visor on.
Wood	Okay, so we’ll get someone to clean your visor, understood, and you’ll be into the pit lane, into the pit lane.

9th: Pierre Gasly

Alpine had problems with Gasly’s radio at the start.

Gasly	Oh, Hadjar is in the gravel.
Gasly	Visibility is pretty poor.
Gasly	Yeah, tyres are going to cool down a lot under the Safety Car. We’re going so slow.
Gasly	What the heck is going on?
Gasly	What the fuck’s going on?
Gasly	What about Leclerc?
Peckett	Okay mate, and you’re back with me now mate, back with me. Good job so far.
Peckett	Weaving is good here, let’s keep this up. Those temps will soon come up.
Peckett	Okay mate, multiple cars out there with technical issues, now just keep going as you are.
Peckett	Okay we’ve got Hamilton stopped between 14 and 15 at the moment.
Peckett	Safety Car is at turn 14 are going slowly now, he’s going to back the pack up. We have starting procedure suspended, form up behind the Safety Car, exit turn 14 now. That means we are going to come back in the pit lane, you’re just going to stay where you are in the group.

10th: Gabriel Bortoleto

Gabriel Bortoleto led the field into the pits when the start was aborted. He suffered a loss of power but Audi were unable to get his car back up to speed.

Lopez	Be mindful of the standing water in turn three, turn even and turn 12. Gabi, Hadjar is going to overtake you as you can see, he was out of position because he went off track. And feedback on your start, that was tyre plus four and you pulled back plus two on your throttle.
Lopez	And if I can get mode…
Bortoleto	Interrupts urgently Hey, I have no power, I have no power, tell me what to do
Lopez	Bear with me, Gabi, coming back to you with the instruction.
Bortoleto	You need to let me know, man.
Lopez	Yeah, I don’t have anything good for you for the moment, give me a second, I come back to youe. Gabi it’s both cars actually. Both cars. All cars actually, all cars.
Bortoleto	Okay.
Lopez	All cars are lacking power, Gabi.
Bortoleto	Okay, okay.
Lopez	It’s all the cars. And then meanwhile, can I have multi B11 position 13 multi B11 position 13.
Bortoleto	P what? Sorry, I think I went to the wrong…
Lopez	Multi B11 position 13. Multi B11 position 13
Bortoleto	I changed them to B11, let me know what to do.

Audi seemed to be uncertain about how serious Bortoleto’s problem was:

Lopez	You can overtake Hamilton if you need to.
Bortoleto	I don’t have power, do you not understand?
Lopez	Yes, we know. So maybe you don’t have power. Some cars have recovered the power. Hamilton, you and Nico have not recovered the power yet.
Bortoleto	Okay, and what did I did in the MFB 13? I think I changed something.
Lopez	It’s good. All [multi-function] is multi B13 position two, multi B13 position two.
Bortoleto	Should I go through power, should I stay like this? What’s better?
Lopez	Stay like this for the moment, it’s not on our car, many cars are affected, like seven or eight cars are affected, we haven’t recovered the power as you see, that’s around seven or eight cars.
Lopez	Can I have multi-clutch A nine – sorry, eight, multi clutch eight. There’s seven cars without power. As you can see, some cars as they recover power can overtake us. We’ll stay on-track for the moment.

Hamilton got his Ferrari going and pulled away:

Bortoleto	Hamilton did something. He stopped the car and he came back.
Lopez	Yeah, but I don’t know what he did. Wait for my instruction, please.
Lopez	It’s red flag.
Bortoleto	Red flag, okay, box.
Lopez	Into the pit lane, into the pit lane. Into the pit lane, into the pit lane. You are the first car coming into the pit lane, go all the way to the end of the pit lane and stop before the red light, and all the cars will follow you, and they will stop in five metres gaps. And Gabi, stay in the car, please. Stay in the car for the moment.
Bortoleto	Yeah, and by the way, if you can put another set of inters because this is cold already
Lopez	Yeah, yeah, we already have that.

11th: Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson was having radio problems when he caught the slow queue of cars.

Desiderio	Radio check, Liam. Radio check.
Desiderio	If you can hear me, you can overtake Hamilton.
Lawson	[Unclear]
Desiderio	Okay, I can hear you, can you hear me?
Lawson	Yeah, I got you. Fucking hell, I’ve got you!
Desiderio	All right we are back. So Hamilton had an issue, you overtook him, well done. Offset minus two.

However he also lost power as he tried to catch up to the Safety Car.

Lawson	I’ve got no power. Like, I can’t catch the field.
Desiderio	Copy, we check.
Lawson	It’s just, it’s just mode 12.
Desiderio	You can use boost, you can use boost. Red flag, red flag.
Lawson	Yeah, copy.
Desiderio	It’s a bit of a mess with the Ferrari engines that seem to have technical issues.
Lawson	All of them? Oh my god, all of them.
Desiderio	Looks like, I don’t know, not all of them but some of them.
Lawson	Mate, what the fuck is going on?
Desiderio	We go to the pit lane, we box box. Multi B8 position 8.
Lawson	I tell you what, I’ve never felt more alone in my life than when that radio wasn’t working.
Desiderio	I’m sorry, Liam. I know. Okay, we follow the cars, we leave one car length to the car in front and you go to P1 when you stop. Okay, one car length, you can stop.

12th: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso was running further back in the pack. His Aston Martin team initially suspected Verstappen had slowed down because his team mate Isack Hadjar had gone off during the formation lap and lost several places and Red Bull were trying to help him regain his original starting position. In fact, Red Bull had not told Verstappen about Hadjar’s situation.

Vizard	Verstappen’s going slow on the exit of nine to help Hadjar get back to position. Quite a big gap ahead of Verstappen for the Safety Car.
Vizard	Apparently Verstappen has got an issue, looks like he’s going now.
Vizard	Some other cars… so Hamilton has now also got an issue.
Alonso	Yeah, they need to move over.

Aston Martin told Alonso he was allowed to pass Hamilton first, then anyone else who had the same problem.

Vizard	You are allowed to go past Hamilton only, people are starting to push past Hamilton.
Vizard	They’re all going through now.
Alonso	Fuck, now Bortoleto has a problem.
Vizard	Yep, understood.
Alonso	Yeah, tell the race director to go…
Vizard	Interrupting loudly Anyone who’s going too slow, you can pass Fernando, just pass, you can pass. Anyone who’s going very slow, you can pass.
Vizard	There is still Safety Car, Fernando.
Vizard	You can go to race one.
Vizard	Maybe Lawson’s got an issue now.
Vizard	Tyres are still on the cold side, tyres are out on the cold side.
Vizard	Fernando there’s loads of cars with issues. We’ll just stay on track. The Safety Car is going slow. You’re going to catch it shortly. Safety Car is slow at turn 14.

Alonso was disappointed the start was abandoned as he looked poised to gain places from those who had hit trouble.

Alonso	Why, why they put the red flag this is racing, you know, we go.
Vizard	Affirm, yeah, so go to run switch cool, run switch cool. Actually go to four, Fernando, run switch four. So there will be very slow cars, even stopping, down this straight, down to 15, so you can go past them. And then we’ll be coming into the pit lane for a red flag procedure.

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