Nobody Finished The Formula 4 South East Asia Race In Malaysia

Alongside the Formula 1 Malaysia Grand Prix happening this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit, the circuit is also hosting the first round of the Formula 4 South East Asia (SEA) championship. Part of the several races that usually happen over an F1 weekend, the F4 series managed to make a mark but not in a good way. In what would go down as one of the most bizarre moments in motorsport history, the Formula 4 series saw zero cars making it to the finish line at the end of the eight-lap race. To put it simply, nobody finished the race!

(The organisers had scheduled two back-to-back races but miscalculated the fuel needed)

Saturday morning saw two F4 events being organised back-to-back due to the broken drain incident during F1's free practice session. Due to the hush-hush timetable, the organisers miscalculated the amount of fuel required for both races. So, while the Race 1 concluded without any issue, spectators were in disbelief when the cars stopped towards the end of Race 2, due to the lack of fuel.

The first driver ran out of fuel on Lap 5, while the four other racers followed suit on Lap 6 with more cars coming to halt on different sections of the track. Three more ran out of fuel on Lap 7, which prompted the organisers to call out for the safety car.

Something Mansell-esque about this? 🤔 Was part of an historic #F4SEA race, where ALL nine drivers failed to finish. #ForgotFuel #NoJoke 😐 pic.twitter.com/jpvag5TAbs

— Nayan Chatterjee (@NayanChats) September 30, 2017

On the final lap, just one driver - Kane Shepherd was making his way to the chequered flag, but he too ran out of fuel by the exit of Turn 2. The safety car turned out to be the only vehicle to actually take the chequered flag. Given the fact that the F4 SEA is handled by the same team, all cars had the same amount of fuel that would be needed to complete the two races.

As embarrassing as it gets, Peter Thompson, the chairman of series organiser Asian Autosport Action, apologised for the blunder.

In a statement, Thompson said, "I apologise unreservedly for the results of race three. With races two and three back-to-back and without the possibility to top up, we filled the cars for both races before the start of race two. However we miscalculated the requirements. As we are a one-team championship all the drivers were unfortunately affected."

(The Formula 4 organisers apologised for the blunder)

While Kane Shepherd was provisionally declared the winner since he entered the final lap, the victory was later officially awarded to Danial Frost, since the young driver was leading the race before running out fuel.

Interestingly, the F4 SEA also has an Indian contingent Nayan Chatterjee participating in the championship and this was his maiden round. The Indian finished third in the race. Clearly, this would be an interesting story to tell for the young racing driver.

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