Fresh FIA blunder sparks Singapore Sprint Qualifying chaos and leaves teams furious

A major race control blunder by the FIA has sparked outrage across the Formula 1 paddock during Sprint Qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix. The error deprived several cars of full engine power, with Aston Martin still weighing up an official protest.

The opening segment of the session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit was red-flagged due to debris from Sergio Perez’s front wing. Following the restart, human error in race control meant that overtake mode—providing additional electrical deployment and normally active throughout qualifying—was not re-enabled. Several drivers immediately took to team radio to report an inexplicable loss of power.

Upon realising the mistake, a race control official briefly activated the system for just 27 seconds before switching it off once again. The resulting disruption heavily distorted the SQ1 results. Drivers who had banked their push laps prior to the stoppage did so with full power, whereas those seeking improvements after the restart were severely compromised and knocked out of qualifying contention.

While almost the entire field felt the repercussions of the incident, the hardest hit were Arvid Lindblad, Lance Stroll, and both Williams cars, all of whom were eliminated in the opening phase.

According to motorsport.com, Williams appealed to the stewards to allow all 22 cars to progress into SQ2 to ensure a fair restart to the session. However, the request was rejected as officials were uncertain whether regulations granted them the authority to make such a call. A complete re-run of SQ1 was also ruled out due to a lack of available tyre sets.

FIA Single-Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis convened an emergency meeting with the affected drivers and team representatives. While Williams and Racing Bulls expressed deep frustration over the ordeal, both outfits indicated they would not lodge a formal protest against the classification.

Aston Martin, however, are still considering their options and awaiting potential corrective steps from the FIA. The British squad is pushing for a level playing field on Saturday's Sprint grid, though it remains uncertain whether the governing body has any regulatory mechanism to resolve the matter without causing further friction in the paddock.

This marks the second consecutive weekend hit by major operational disruptions, coming just a week after the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was delayed by a software glitch within the power unit control systems.

Compounding the FIA's blunder was a separate timing system malfunction managed by Formula 1, which failed to log multiple lap times in SQ1. The lack of reliable data left drivers in the dark over whether they had secured passage into the next phase, intensifying the disorder on track.

In an official statement, the governing body issued an apology for the incident: