Did FIA break its own rule by restoring Bahrain GP starting grid?

The FIA’s decision to restore the original starting grid after the chaotic formation lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia remains under scrutiny, with the sporting regulations appearing to require cars to restart in the order in which they entered the pit lane.

Three days after the race at Sepang, controversy has yet to subside over the pre-race confusion caused by software problems that affected almost every car on the grid. While the sequence of events that caused cars to suddenly slow during the formation lap has now been at least partially clarified, attention has shifted to Race Control’s decision to restart the race using the original grid order.

FIA Bahrain GP grid decision remains controversial

That decision effectively erased all the position changes that had taken place during the formation lap. It was also the call that angered Fernando Alonso, who accused the federation of wanting to help Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton had been among those most heavily affected by the software problems. Having originally been due to start second, the Ferrari driver had fallen to the back of the field before Race Control restored the initial starting order. The episode formed another major talking point from the Sepang weekend, which also later featured Lewis Hamilton discussing Ferrari after the Bahrain GP in Malaysia.

What the FIA sporting regulations say

The key issue is that, by restoring the original starting order and disregarding the sequence in which the cars entered the pit lane, the FIA appears to have gone against its own sporting regulations.

Paragraph B5.15.1 explicitly sets out what should happen when the starting procedure is suspended and the cars are directed into the pit lane.

“All F1 cars which entered the pit lane behind the Safety Car at the time the starting procedure was suspended will be arranged in the order in which they entered the pit lane, with cars that have been penalised and are required to start from the pit lane at the back of the line,” the regulation states.

On that basis, Race Control’s decision appears to have been an exceptional interpretation outside the normal procedure. At the same time, the reasoning is understandable because the problem that slowed almost the entire field was unrelated to any mistake by the individual drivers or teams.

A common-sense solution, but one that appears inconsistent with the rule

Another complication was the extraordinary level of confusion. So many cars were affected and spread around the circuit that Race Control faced a difficult task in determining what the new grid should actually have looked like.

However, a strict application of the regulation would have required the order to be frozen according to when each car entered the pit lane. The only obvious adjustment would have been to move to the back those cars that had remained stranded on track for so long that the Safety Car caught them, leaving them paradoxically ahead of the Safety Car when they eventually entered the pits.

The sequence of position changes around such incidents can also be examined through the ScuderiaFans F1 Race Position & Progression Tracker.

Bernie Collins says a written FIA rule was broken

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins argued that a rule written into the sporting regulations had clearly been breached, even though she could understand why Race Control chose to restore the original grid.

“I partly agree with restoring the grid order, given the extremely chaotic situation,” Bernie Collins said. “However, there is a specific rule for the suspension of the starting procedure which clearly states that the cars entering the pit lane will start in the order in which they entered it.”

“Of course, the situation was far more chaotic than that rule anticipated, but the rule exists. As a result, anyone who gained an advantage through better management of the formation lap — whether that came from understanding the engine, pure luck or any other factor — may have felt penalised by the restoration of the original grid order.”

The controversy therefore centres on the tension between what Race Control considered the fairest practical solution to an unprecedentedly confused situation and the procedure explicitly described in the regulations. The decision restored the status quo for drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, but it also removed gains made by those who had negotiated the disrupted formation lap more successfully.