David Croft has criticised the FIA for the chaotic formation lap scenes at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, describing a software glitch that saw several drivers slowing to a crawl or stopping completely as a "farce". F1 and the FIA have new technical regulations this year which saw the introduction of a new power unit which is almost 50 per cent electric. Sepang saw the first wet conditions of the season, and the FIA later confirmed that a combination of low engine speeds, low grip, wet-weather energy-management settings and the configuration of the circuit had caused an unintended loss of power.
Speaking on the F1 Show podcast, Sky Sports F1 commentator Croft questioned why such a scenario had not been simulated before the season began. "We had a shakedown in Barcelona and six days of testing in Bahrain before the season started. Why on earth were situations like this not tried out before we went racing?" he said.
"Nikolas Tombazis [FIA single-seater director] says there are bugs all the time with software. Behind the scenes, people are working on those bugs, and what they try and do is do updates during the night time when people aren't actually using their computers. "Not during the course of a Grand Prix, when someone has now suddenly realised we've got a situation on our hands.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "Before the start of the race, it looked like it was the day where we were going to break the duck and have some wet weather running. "We've had dry weather all the time, so we've had plenty of time to simulate this, to stop it happening in front of hundreds of millions of people during the course of a race. I'm sorry, but you are the governing body.
You are supposed to have the upper hand when it comes to these rules and regulations, the directives, the power units and everything. "You weren't on top of things when it came to that race, and it was a farce." When the drivers left the pit lane following a rain-delayed start, several almost ground to a halt, including race leader Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with numerous other drivers in the midfield also experiencing issues. The unusual scenes left spectators and viewers unsure what was happening, with the aborted start followed by a lengthy wait while the problem was resolved.
The FIA said its emergency software fix took around 20 minutes to issue and install, although the overall disruption was considerably longer. "We had no idea why those cars were going so slowly," Croft said. "We had no idea why we were waiting around for 40 minutes to get a race on.
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