FIA admit human error handed half the grid extra power in Singapore Sprint Qualifying
FIA confirm "human error" after Overtake Mode blunder
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has admitted that a "human error" caused a power disparity during the opening segment of Sprint Qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.
The chaos began when a red flag for debris — triggered by Cadillac's Sergio Perez — halted SQ1. Following the restart, the FIA failed to activate Overtake Mode, the extra power boost that is normally available throughout qualifying and used in races to aid overtaking.
When the omission was spotted, officials reactivated the system for just 27 seconds before switching it off again, handing an unfair advantage to a portion of the field. Sky Sports F1 understands the brief re-activation happened in the final minute of SQ1, with several drivers on flying laps.
Sainz left on the "bad end" as Williams miss out
Carlos Sainz, one of six drivers eliminated in SQ1, estimated those with Overtake Mode available gained around half a second. The Williams driver, who qualified last for Saturday's Sprint, was furious at the disparity.
"Half of the cars did their laps with half a second quicker engine than the others," Sainz said. "There was another software issue with the cars this time around, and we were on the bad end of it.
"For whatever reason the FIA, like in Malaysia, at the end decide to do sporting equity and were happy to do half of the cars in qualy with higher power than the other half of the cars.
"A bit confused why the sport keeps doing different things depending on who is out in Q1 or who is out in lap one."
Williams petitioned for all teams to progress to SQ2, but the request was declined, and no protests are expected.
FIA statement and wider context
In a statement, the FIA said: "This issue in question meant Overtake Mode was not available after the red flag period during SQ1. When it became apparent that Overtake Mode was not active after the restart, it was then activated for a period of 27 seconds before being deactivated again.
"The FIA acknowledges that this unfortunate human error had an impact on the performance of certain cars based on the timing of their run and their position around the lap. The second and third periods of Sprint Qualifying were not affected."
A separate timing issue during Sprint Qualifying was described by the FIA as "unrelated" to the human error. The blunder arrives just five days after an "unprecedented" software glitch at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia caused several cars to grind to a crawl or a halt.
Verstappen takes Sprint pole as McLaren pair split
Despite the confusion, all the main contenders progressed to SQ2. Max Verstappen went on to claim Sprint pole, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll were among those who might have fancied their chances of progressing.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were left with conflicting emotions after qualifying fourth and fifth respectively. A hectic SQ3 saw Norris initially claim top spot, only to be demoted to P5 when Ferrari and Red Bull ran at different times. Piastri improved on his second run to take fourth, which he felt was the maximum available.
"I think that was more or less what we could've done," the Australian said. "It's very tricky on a Sprint weekend to get all the lap time out of the car here, but I felt like on the softs things came alive a lot more. I was struggling on the medium and then once we put the softs on, I felt pretty happy. Not a bad effort."
Asked about the most difficult part of the track, Piastri added: "I was struggling with a few things in the car through there. It was a little bit better now, but I think the general feeling of the car isn't any different to what it normally is. You've got to really wring its neck to be quick."
Norris, however, was dissatisfied on a personal level. "No, I don't think that's the reason," he said when it was suggested the conditions affected his laps. "I just don't think I put together a very good lap – that was all. No excuse. It's just simply that I didn't do a good enough job."
After the team worked to fix the straight-line speed issue that impacted Norris at the previous round in Sepang, the Briton recognised a step forward but remained critical of his own performance. "I think [I'm happy] from what I've seen so far. I don't know everything just yet to be honest – the guys are still looking into it and it's been a busy day. A lot of things seem good. We seem closer as a team."
Aston Martin seek answers
Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz reported that Aston Martin's sporting director Andy Stephenson remained with race control to understand the incident. "They don't believe that anyone was doing their qualifying lap and then didn't have the extra half a megajoule available, what it's concerned about is the tyre preparation on the out-lap," Kravitz said. "Most of the drivers were on the radio saying they didn't have power, so they couldn't do the out-lap they wanted to do. That skews everything else, the rest of the computations they've done.
"While Aston Martin aren't making a protest, they do want to understand what's going on. They say the easiest thing would have been to stop the session and do it all again, but you've used your tyres by that time and that's not going to be possible."
What's next
The Singapore Sprint takes place on Saturday at 10am (build-up from 9am), live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, ahead of Qualifying at 2pm. Sunday's Grand Prix begins at 1pm (build-up from 11.30am).