The start of Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was delayed by torrential rain.
Rain began to fall 45 minutes before the scheduled start of F1’s first race at Sepang in nine years, intensifying to completely soak the track and the assembled teams and drivers on the starting grid.
The race start was inevitably delayed due to far too much standing water on the track for the race to begin. There was also thunder and lightning in the distance.
The medical car completed laps of the track around the time of the initial planned start time and quickly reported the track conditions weren’t suitable for racing.
The 10-minute signal was issued half an hour after the initial start time, with the formation lap scheduled for 4.40pm local time.
The FIA’s weather radar went down 15 minutes before the start of the initial start time, before coming back online around 25 minutes later.
This will be a huge step into the unknown for all the 2026 F1 drivers, as it will be the first properly rain-affected session of the new regulations.
“[It will be] a good test for the regulations also because I think with all the issues we have with downshifts, with harvesting, power, variability, corner to corner, the wet is going to be a challenge, for sure,” Sainz said on the prospect of rain ahead of the weekend.
“Both from a tyre standpoint, from what I heard, this year’s wet tyres and intermediate tyres, it’s quite a difficult tyre for people that have run it, plus the power unit factor.”
Some teams have already got a taste of the intermediate and wet tyres during private Pirelli tests.
Pierre Gasly, who took part in a wet tyre test for Pirelli after the Miami GP, said of the first wet 2026 F1 race, he “wouldn’t be surprised if we end up having a bit of an elimination game”.