{"id":3377,"date":"2026-10-04T04:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3377"},"modified":"2026-10-04T04:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:41:59","slug":"sepang-gets-new-start-procedure-time-after-rain-delays-verstappen-hamilton-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/sepang-gets-new-start-procedure-time-after-rain-delays-verstappen-hamilton-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Sepang gets new start procedure time after rain delays Verstappen\u2013Hamilton showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The formation lap is scheduled for 15:40 local time at Sepang.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The announcement follows a rain delay to the original 15:00 race start.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>15:40 is the formation lap time<\/strong>, with lights out to follow the starting procedure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Race Control has announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix formation lap will begin at 15:40 local time<\/strong>, providing a new timetable after torrential rain delayed Sunday\u2019s race at Sepang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement schedules the formation lap <strong>40 minutes after the original race start time of 15:00<\/strong>. <strong>Race Control plans to run at least two laps behind the Safety Car before a standing start<\/strong>, although that procedure remains subject to change depending on driver feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The formation lap was scheduled for <strong>15:40 local time<\/strong> following the rain delay. The latest message sets out the intended procedure, but <strong>does not confirm a lights-out time<\/strong>: Race Control may revise its plan after drivers assess conditions on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heavy rain shortly before the scheduled start had forced Race Control to delay the <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a> race. Teams and drivers now have a confirmed time for the next stage of the starting procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton occupy the front row<\/strong>, with Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc immediately behind them. The <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/sepang-f1-starting-grid-how-hadjar-colapinto-and-lindblad-penalties-change-the-order\/\">official Sepang starting grid includes penalties for Hadjar, Colapinto and Lindblad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Updated Sepang formation lap time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Market<\/th><th>Formation lap<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Malaysia<\/td><td>Sunday, 15:40 MYT<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United Kingdom<\/td><td>Sunday, 08:40 BST<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States and Canada \u2014 Eastern<\/td><td>Sunday, 03:40 EDT<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States and Canada \u2014 Pacific<\/td><td>Sunday, 00:40 PDT<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>India<\/td><td>Sunday, 13:10 IST<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Sydney and Melbourne<\/td><td>Sunday, 18:40 AEDT<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Brisbane<\/td><td>Sunday, 17:40 AEST<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Adelaide<\/td><td>Sunday, 18:10 ACDT<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Perth<\/td><td>Sunday, 15:40 AWST<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>These times refer to the formation lap on Sunday, 4 October, rather than lights out.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action at Sepang, including further updates from Race Control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F1 today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did F1 cars lose power before the Bahrain GP in Malaysia?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FIA identified a combination of low engine speed, low grip, wet-weather energy management settings and Sepang\u2019s sector configuration. It distributed a software update before the race and announced a full review with teams and power unit manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can Kimi Antonelli win the F1 championship in Singapore?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Antonelli leads George Russell by <strong>84 points<\/strong>, but even a Singapore Sprint and Grand Prix double would not secure the title. <strong>Austin on 25 October is his earliest possible opportunity<\/strong>, depending on his results and those of the remaining contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the next F1 race, and is Singapore a Sprint weekend?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next race is the <strong>Singapore Grand Prix on 11 October<\/strong>, with track activity beginning on Friday, 9 October. It is a <strong>Sprint weekend<\/strong>: Sprint qualifying takes place on Friday, followed by the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Race Control has announced that the formation lap will begin at 15:40 local time following the heavy rain that delayed the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020317063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Safety-car in Sepang","42wp_featured_image_credits":"F1","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":7,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[630,707,580,113],"42wp_author":[7],"class_list":["post-3377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-bahrain-grand-prix-in-malaysia","tag-f1-race-start-time","tag-f1-weather","tag-sepang","42wp_author-victor-martins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3377"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3380,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions\/3380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020317063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3377"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}