F1 competitors advocate for regulation modification following ‘hazardous’ race beginnings
SHANGHAI, China — Formula 1 competitors are increasingly concerned that a significant collision at the beginning of a race is inevitable unless the governing FIA implements regulatory changes.
This year’s new regulations have placed considerable focus on energy management and battery power usage due to a 50-50 division between combustion and electric power in the engines.
This has sparked debate in several areas, particularly regarding the manner in which races commence.
The start in Australia was tumultuous, with various cars exhibiting drastically different launches, which has become a notable characteristic of the early races.
In Australia, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto narrowly avoided crashing into the rear of Liam Lawson’s sluggish Racing Bulls vehicle.
Lawson’s car engaged anti-stall and took a significant amount of time to reach a normal speed, creating a hazardous situation as Colapinto approached at high speed from behind.
“What occurred to me over the weekend could easily happen again,” Lawson stated on Thursday in advance of the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.
“If Franco hadn’t managed to avoid it skillfully, it could have resulted in a very serious crash. Currently, it is quite perilous.”
Numerous drivers have expressed safety apprehensions regarding this issue.
Grand Prix Drivers Association director and Williams driver Carlos Sainz remarked that a major incident is a question of when, not if, unless the FIA modifies the starting procedure.
“In Melbourne, we were incredibly fortunate that nothing happened with Liam and Franco,” Sainz noted. “I believe that if no changes are made to the start procedure, we will eventually witness a significant crash this year.
“Hopefully, we can take action in time to enhance safety and prevent such incidents. However, if we remain inactive, I feel that at some point, we will encounter one of those situations.”
The FIA has already introduced an extended start procedure for the new season, which teams tested during preseason, to allow the cars more time to get their turbos activated.
Nevertheless, a considerable portion of the grid does not consider the current conditions to be sufficiently safe.
One of the challenges was that drivers arrived at the starting grid with varying battery levels for the actual start following the formation lap.
Max Verstappen was among them.
“Starting with 0 percent battery is not enjoyable and quite risky,” Verstappen stated. “We are in discussions with them to explore potential solutions.
“You could see we nearly had a significant collision in Melbourne at the start; some of that is related to battery levels, while some can occur due to anti-stall, but there are noticeable speed discrepancies.
“I was not the only car with almost no battery or only 20/30%; this is something that can be easily rectified.”
Verstappen’s former teammate Sergio Pérez, now back on the grid with Cadillac, added: “These power units are very challenging to start. A good start or a poor start can be influenced by numerous factors. You can experience anti-stall like what happened to Lawson, which can be very dangerous because the speeds reached within two to three seconds are extreme. It’s a complex issue because I’m unsure what can be done about it. It’s just that these new engines are quite difficult to start.”
As is often the case with Formula 1, there is a significant political aspect influencing how this situation develops.
Ferrari, which has included in its agreement to participate in Formula 1 the ability to veto any decisions made by the sport, has introduced a smaller turbo design this year that has resulted in rapid starts.
This aided Charles Leclerc in advancing from fourth to first on the approach to Turn 1 at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
Reports from Italy have indicated that Ferrari exercised its veto over similar rule change proposals earlier this year, having raised safety concerns early in the design phase of these new cars.
When those concerns were disregarded, Ferrari proceeded to develop a smaller turbo, aware that it would provide a significant performance advantage at the start.
In a detailed explanation regarding the differing battery levels among drivers, Mercedes driver and new championship leader George Russell also appeared to imply that Ferrari is currently obstructing any changes to the procedure.
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“There was a mistake that caught many teams off guard, which was the harvest limit during the formation lap,” Russell explained on Thursday. “It’s a rather peculiar rule … I’m not sure if you are aware, but there is a harvest limit every lap. The drivers who started in the first half of the grid, who were beyond the timing line, were already within that lap.
“So when you performed your formation lap start, you were using your battery and charging it, which counts towards your harvest limit. The drivers at the back, when they did their formation lap start, they then launched away, crossed the start-finish line, and then it reset because they were effectively on the next lap. So based on our practice starts, we launched before this line, and it reset, and at the race start, starting from pole, I accelerated, charged the battery, but it consumed about 50% of my harvest limit for that lap.
“So when I reached halfway around the track, I could no longer charge the battery, and I lacked the power for proper burnouts. The FIA is considering potentially adjusting that, but as you can imagine, some teams that were achieving good starts were opposed to it, which I find a bit unreasonable. However, I’m not overly worried, but it is certainly a challenge.”
Russell began from pole but lost the lead to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by Turn 1.
When asked again why a quick resolution might not be feasible, Russell added: “I think [the FIA] wants to, but they require a super majority from the teams, which they currently do not possess.
“So you can probably deduce which team is against that. I don’t believe their advantage stems from this issue. Now that all the teams are aware of the problem, we will simply adapt. However, it is creating unnecessary complications for something that shouldn’t be there.
“As I mentioned, half the grid struggled in Melbourne. We will adjust. We understand what we need to be cautious about now. The FIA intended to simplify our lives by removing this harvest limit.
“But as is often the case, people have self-serving perspectives and wish to do what benefits them, which is part of Formula 1 and part of the challenge we face; we will manage it. I believe the starts here will be significantly improved.”
Formula 1 will feature two starts off the grid this week, with China hosting the first sprint race of the 2026 season on Saturday.
Source: espn.com
