Controversial F1 rule criticised by Max Verstappen helped him win Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen after his win at Sepang — Photo: © IMAGO

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Controversial F1 rule criticised by Max Verstappen helped him win Bahrain Grand Prix

Verstappen nailed it in Sepang

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Tuesday 6 October 2026 18:44

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Max Verstappen took a commanding first F1 win of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, but it was very nearly not meant to be.

The Red Bull driver never looked like losing in Sepang after passing Kimi Antonelli for the lead on lap 13 following a race that was plagued by a delayed start as well as an aborted one.

As heavy rain hit the circuit moments before the start of the race, the initial formation lap was delayed by 40 minutes.

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Once drivers took to the still rain-soaked track, many cars were then hit by software glitches shutting down power, leading to an aborted start and another 53 minute delay while all the F1 cars were patched with new software to deal with the treacherous conditions.

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Verstappen nailed Sepang

The aborted start led to the all the drivers having to report back to the pitlane under red flag conditions, but once back in the pitlane, Verstappen discovered something very unusual with his car.

In his left front intermediate tyre, Verstappen spotted a massive nail sticking out of it, sending a radio message to his team to confirm his findings.

What remains unclear is where the nail came from or when it lodged into the four-time world champion's tyre. The most likely explanation is he ran over the nail while entering the pits.

Thankfully for Verstappen, under red flag conditions, teams are able to change the tyres on a car without suffering any penalty for doing so.

This enabled Verstappen to put on a brand new set of intermediates that would set him up to end his longest streak without an F1 win at Red Bull that had stood at 15 races, stretching back to him winning the season finale in Abu Dhabi last season.

Controversial red flag rule much criticised

The rule of drivers being allowed to change tyres under a red flag tough has for a long time been a controversial one, and one many have called on to be scrapped.

It first came under the spotlight at the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix, when the race finale was delicately poised, yes even at Monaco.

With six laps left, Sebastian Vettel was leading for Red Bull but was gambling on stopping only once, Fernando Alonso's Ferrari was going faster having Vettel in on fresher tyres with a two-stop strategy, while Jenson Button's McLaren had even newer tyres on a three-stop strategy.

To add spice to the drama, McLaren engineers predicted Vettel's tyres were about to drop off the cliff, an F1 term for tyres suddenly losing all grip and performance. A dramatic three-way fight for the win was on.

However, a red flag ended that possibility, with the race resuming seeing Vettel, Alonso and Button all with much more equal tyre performance, producing a procession rather than a dramatic fight to the flag.

The Monaco Grand Prix has often highlighted the flaws in the changing tyres under a red flag rule

Verstappen blasted red flag rule

It was Monaco again in 2024 which led to the red flag rules being criticised, led by Verstappen, after a first lap red flag allowed everyone to change tyres and complete mandatory rules of running both sets of tyres.

With tyre degradation low at Monaco, it meant no further pit-stops were needed. Verstappen, who finished sixth, said: "After the red flag, our strategy was ruined as we had to put the medium on to the end as everyone had a free stop and that meant that we had to save a lot.

"I just tried to follow George [Russell] and we were so off the pace trying to manage the tyres. That is quite boring out there, driving literally half throttle on the straights in some places."

Max had a nail stuck in his tyre What the fuck 😭 https://t.co/DzmDuSezLM
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) October 4, 2026

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Bahrain Grand Prix