The 2026 F1 Malaysia race marked Formula 1’s return to the legendary Sepang International Circuit after nine years. But this comeback came with its own trials and tribulations: torrential rain, race delays, Safety Cars, and red flags.
The biggest challenge was a perplexing FIA software issue right as the drivers were completing their formation laps, resulting in many of them stopping on track — frustrating those on the receiving end.
For Audi, the weekend marked another time of almosts as Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed out on points in P11, while his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto concluded his race in P18 following a 10-second penalty after contact with Carlos Sainz.
Hülkenberg on “perplexing” formation lap issue at 2026 F1 Malaysia race
After a heavy rain delay, all 22 cars went out on track behind the Safety Car; however, several drivers began losing power on the formation lap. Race Officials eventually red-flagged the start after discovering a software issue.
Hülkenberg described the entire situation as “peculiar” and “strange” — an apt description for a frantic afternoon.
“It was very peculiar and strange,” Hülkenberg said. “It was a hell of a day, with so many weird things happening in the race. Yeah, a lot to take in today.”
The German offered a driver’s perspective on how the team handled the situation. When asked whether the team had told him to try resetting the car, he explained that drivers could do nothing from the cockpit except enter the pits.
“No, there was nothing to do. You just had to come back and then I think it was done by software during the red flag. But there was nothing, I couldn’t do anything during that formation lap.”
According to Hülkenberg, the issue felt like a sudden power cut, with the car dropping down to idle. “Yeah, we were just cut, like a power cut down to idle, kind of thing.”
The issue added to what the 39-year-old described as a “hell of a day”, with the race becoming increasingly unpredictable. However, the software problem did not appear to hamper his performance once the race got underway, as he recovered to finish 11th after briefly running inside the points.
Hülkenberg labels Audi’s choice to opt for slicks as “ambitious”
Both drivers initially started on soft slicks but quickly realised the track remained too wet for the tyres. They switched to intermediates at the end of the formation lap, which immediately helped them gain many positions.
Hülkenberg admitted that starting on slicks was an ambitious call given the conditions, but Audi quickly reacted when the team realised the track was still too wet. The German described the choice as “damage limitation”, but said the team was able to recover the lost time almost immediately.
“Yeah, damage limitation there. To be honest, you know, yeah, it was too ambitious to go on slicks. But, you know, this track has a history of drying up quickly, but I think the sun was missing a bit for that today.
“Somehow it took quite long in the end. But, you know, we reacted quickly and repaired the damage quite quickly you know, picked up everyone on slicks. Like within a lap or two and, to be honest, it didn’t really cost that much. It was kind of a freebie.”
The quick recovery put him back into the fight in 12th, where he enjoyed what he described as “good racing” and “a lot of good fighting.”
However, he felt the Safety Car worked against him and prevented the team from making the most of the position they had gained. He looked certain to be ahead of Arvid Lindblad before it was deployed. They then engaged in a thrilling duel at the end.
“I don’t know if the Safety Car in the end was so advantageous for us. In the end, just, you know, not strong enough, not enough speed to defend that position, obviously. And only in that position in the first place, obviously, because George and Lando were out.“
An untimely Safety Car costs a point or points
Just as Hülkenberg’s strategy appeared to be paying off, race control deployed the Safety Car after George Russell suffered a PU issue. The German joked about how frustrated he was as he felt he had been in a position to gain several places.
“Man, I was eating my steering wheel,” Hülkenberg joked. “I was, seriously, that sucked. Because I was, you know, feeling brave and like a hero in that moment. And, you know, made it work quite well.”
Had the Safety Car not been deployed in the final laps, the 2025 British GP podium finisher could have capitalised on a golden opportunity to turn a chaotic race into valuable points for the team.
“I think I made it into turn six, seven, when the safety car came out. And it was going quite well until that moment. So, I think we could have undercut a few people there. But yeah, unfortunately, the Safety Car had other plans.”
A pit stop issue for #27
The driver also addressed an issue during his pit stop, where the mechanic responsible for the front wing was stuck while using a screwdriver to tweak the front wing angle.
“Yeah, I don’t know, obviously. The guy that does the front wing somehow had to use the screwdriver and got stuck. And, yeah, not the cleanest of pitstops there. But I hope he’s okay.”
Bortoleto on formation lap at 2026 Malaysia race
Gabriel Bortoleto was among the drivers caught in the formation lap mayhem that brought the start to a halt. The driver said he had little understanding of what had triggered the problem, only knowing that it was an FIA issue.
“No, no clue. I just know there was an FIA issue and that’s it.”
The Brazilian could only travel at 30kph as he made his way back to the pits, while some drivers attempted to “power cycle” their cars — switching the systems off and back on to reset them — in an effort to recover from the problem.
Bortoleto chose not to do so, believing returning to the pit lane was the safest option.
“I was limited at 30 kph and I was going super slow to the pits and then I boxed because it was red flagged. Some people had been power cycling the car and I didn’t. But it was the safest result to go to the pit lane. We knew it was going to be a red flag at some point.”
While a wet race seemed likely, the delay in resolving the issue cost the chance to race in genuine wet weather conditions, as the track had dried considerably by the time the problem was resolved.
“It’s not great, is it? But I’m not going to judge it. It’s not my work to do that,” Bortoleto described his feelings toward the situation.
“It’s just a shame because maybe a wet race could have been interesting. The issue had happened and we had to fix it. It took a lot of time to fix all the cars and then it was a slick already.”
Bortoleto takes responsibility for Sainz contact
On Lap 13, Bortoleto became involved in an incident with Carlos Sainz at Turn 2, initially believing that the Williams driver had closed the door on him.
After reviewing the incident, however, Bortoleto accepted responsibility for the contact, admitting that it was in fact a lock-up on his end.
“Looking back, immediately I think I said he closed me. But the truth is now I had an opportunity to watch what happened and I just locked up,” he explained.
The 22-year-old said he saw an opening and decided to go for the move, but underestimated how much moisture was still present on the track.
“I saw the open door in front of me and I said I’m going to go for it. I went for it. It was a good line but the problem is that it was still a tiny bit wet. And I didn’t expect that to be honest because that corner is quite banked.”
“So I thought it was going to be dry anyway and ended up touching the wet. Locked up the front a tiny bit and we were so close to each other that I ended up touching him and spinning him. And creating damage in the car as well.”
