Red flag halts wet Bahrain GP as Hamilton, Verstappen and Bortoleto hit by power unit gremlins

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, was red-flagged before a single racing lap could be completed after several cars developed power unit problems during wet formation laps. A heavy tropical thunderstorm had already delayed proceedings, with race control opting for safety car laps ahead of a standing start — but the conditions exposed what appeared to be a widespread issue with the new 2026-specification power units in the wet.

Polesitter Max Verstappen was the first to report trouble, radioing Red Bull to flag a sudden loss of acceleration from his car during the opening formation lap. The Dutchman managed to recover and continue. Lewis Hamilton, starting from second on the grid in his Ferrari, then encountered an identical problem, crawling around the circuit as the rest of the field streamed past him before he too was able to get moving again.

Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi was among the other cars visibly struggling, and with multiple drivers affected, race control had little choice but to suspend the start procedure entirely and throw the red flag.

The incident marks a significant moment for the sport: this was set to be Formula 1’s first-ever wet race run under the 2026 technical regulations, and the power unit gremlins have raised immediate questions about how the new hybrid architecture behaves in standing water and high humidity.

Race control confirmed that the original grid order will be retained whenever the race is able to resume, meaning Verstappen will retain pole position ahead of Hamilton. No timeline for the restart had been confirmed at the time of writing.

More details are expected as the situation at Sepang develops.