George Russell is worried about the new start procedure. With the MGU-H gone, the new engines have to be spun for longer and at higher revs at the start. In Bahrain that produced worrying scenes during the first test week, although most teams now appear to have found their feet. Still, Russell says Mercedes still occasionally ‘bogs down’ off the line, especially compared with rival Ferrari.
Because the MGU-H is absent, drivers in 2026 must spin up their turbos themselves for the start. They hold the throttle flat for ten seconds before the car finally moves. Some teams seem to get the procedure better than others. Ferrari already turned heads on Thursday when, in a practice start, Lewis Hamilton seemingly left all his rivals trailing. Naturally, questions remain over how representative these practice starts are, but for now Ferrari appears to have little trouble with the new routine.
There is more unrest at Mercedes, Russell told the assembled press. “I think we have a lot of potential, but to win a race you also have to get off the line well,” the Briton said at the FIA press conference. “Two starts I made this week were worse than my worst-ever start in Formula 1. And Lewis — who, notably, started from P11 — suddenly went into the lead.”
‘Mercedes still slipping up’
“Right now it doesn’t matter how fast you are,” Russell stressed. “You have to make sure there are no weak links left, and at the moment we’re still slipping up in a number of areas.” Oscar Piastri, who after the first test week in Bahrain called for a review of the new start procedure, is cautiously positive about his practice starts. The Australian voiced his safety concerns only last week, but he now appears to have softened his stance. “I didn’t think my starts were that bad,” he replied. “I started at the back, but I think I passed about four cars.”
“At the moment it’s just very random,” he added. “We’re all still working out what makes a good start and what makes a bad one. That doesn’t change the fact you can end up in serious trouble. Managing the power and the whole start procedure is hugely important and a lot trickier than last year.” Still, Piastri expects teams will get the new procedure under control quickly. “Some teams are getting it right at the moment, others are getting it wrong to some extent. In the first few races the starts will look like they did this week, but after that the field will close up,” he predicted.
