Max Verstappen said "lol look at this" during a farcical aborted start at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, where F1's new hybrid engines appeared to shut down on masse at reduced speeds.
F1's race in Sepang was delayed for 40 minutes due to a huge downpour -- by the time the race got going, the FIA said there would be two laps behind the safety car.
At reduced speeds, polesitter Verstappen suddenly slowed, saying he was pushing the throttle and nothing was happening, although his engine appeared to then correct itself.
The same then happened to Lewis Hamilton in the car directly behind, who briefly stopped altogether on the backstraight.
Hamilton at one point appeared set to drop to the back of the field, before power issues hit the two Audis, a Haas, and Williams, leaving a cluster of cars stopped on track.
Hamilton's engineer Carlo Santi told him: "It's a software issue we are trying to fix."
Half the field had been so slow that the Safety Car and Verstappen -- who's engine had come back to life -- approached the scene on the start-finish straight as the FIA confirmed the start procedure had been aborted, effectively signalling everyone into the pits.
"Lol, look at this," Verstappen said on his radio to Red Bull. Onboards showed the four-time world champion shaking his head.
Verstappen has been one of the biggest critics of F1's new hybrid engines, which feature a 50-50 split between conventional combustion power and electrical elements.
The electrical part of the engines also include AI-driven algorithms which effectively self-learn as the cars go round the circuit -- this has prompted numerous criticisms from drivers this season as they have often not known why power delivery has not happened when they have applied their foot to the floor.
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Verstappen and Hamilton considered to be two of F1's great wet weather drivers, will start the race from first and second.
While no official explanation has been given for the numerous slow-downs, it appeared to be related.
The start of Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was initially delayed by torrential rain.
F1 has had almost zero running on Pirelli's new wet tyres this season -- they sampled them at a behind-closed-doors test before the season but drivers have not used them in a meaningful session since.
However, the delayed start and the farcical aborted formation laps came as the rain stopped and the track dried significantly, lessening the chance of a wet-weather classic.