The Mercedes team was disrupted by the largest IT disruption ever recorded worldwide on Friday.

The Formula 1 outfit, which is sponsored by the implicated cyber-security firm Crowdstrike, experienced a significant malfunction due to an error in a software update that caused Microsoft operating systems worldwide to fail.

The notorious 'blue screen of death' appeared in the Mercedes team's garage and pit wall just before the start of Friday's practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"We are working closely with our partners at Crowdstrike to minimise the impact," a representative of the team informed Bild newspaper from Budapest.

Andrew Shovlin, the team's engineering leader, commented post-practice, "There was a bit of work that we had to do. We've got a lot of computers around the garage and the pit wall and those all needed updating, but we've worked through that," he continued.

"The impact in FP1 was minimal, if not nil."