What Happened During the First Formation Lap?
From the outside, it looked like Max Verstappen had a technical problem — and his car almost brought the whole field to a stop with him.
Initially, the explanation seemed logical: the extremely low speed was causing the turbochargers to lose boost, so when the drivers demanded power, there simply wasn’t enough available.
Then the real problem emerged.
The MGU-K was shut down by a safety mode triggered during the first formation lap.
But why?
The FIA had issued new parameters for the control software that constantly monitors the cars and manages parameters such as energy deployment and power limits in different parts of the track. And this appears to be what caused the issue.
During this formation lap, the combination of very low speeds, wet-weather settings and unusual energy-management conditions created a situation the software was not designed to handle.
The system therefore incorrectly interpreted the conditions and triggered its safety logic.
That safety mode then temporarily cut power-unit deployment, leaving the drivers without their normal power.
The result was extraordinary:
F1 cars struggling to accelerate on a formation lap.
As Oscar Piastri put it:
“I’ve never seen an F1 race delayed by a bug.”
This is F1 in 2026. 🏎️💻
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Were Major Rules Broken?
The FIA rules are very clear about what should happen if a driver slows down during a formation lap: he can keep his position if he regains it before the Safety Car Line at the end of the lap.
So the starting order after the first formation lap should have been the order at the end of the lap — not the order at the beginning.
Yet the second formation lap started in exactly the same order as the first one.
That meant all the cars had to be rearranged in the pit lane, while team bosses were apparently negotiating behind the scenes.
So, the FIA applies its procedures strictly — until another FIA procedure is broken, apparently as a consequence of the first violation.
Then the original violation effectively disappears, and everything is simply reset as if nothing had happened.
Interesting. 🏎️⚖️
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Who Is the Master of Chaos?
According to many of his fellow drivers, Fernando Alonso is the master of chaos.
And the 45-year-old Spaniard proved it again today.
He initially looked to have made the wrong call by choosing slick tyres on a wet track — yet he managed to climb all the way from the back to P8.
Aston Martin are clearly improving, and Alonso’s race data tells an interesting story.
He had the lowest top speed among his direct rivals, but his corner speeds paint a very different picture. His minimum speeds were more or less identical to Ferrari’s.
And that is particularly interesting with Singapore coming next.
The potential problem?
The Aston Martin appears to favour long-radius corners, while Singapore is dominated by slow, tight 90-degree corners.
So repeating today’s result may be difficult.
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🏎️ The Fastest Lap Team
All images and videos used in The Fastest Lap Newsletter are our own or have been provided by our partners, including https://www.spasgp.com/
The Fastest Lap Newsletter is an independent project and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or any F1 team.
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That’s a chequered flag 🏁 for today.
Tomorrow, best. 🏎️