George Russell admits Mercedes is currently “stumbling” with some of its F1 practice starts.
F1’s new-for-2026 rules have placed greater attention on race starts with changes to the power units resulting in drivers needing to rev their engines for up to 10 seconds to properly prepare their turbochargers.
Ferrari has grabbed attention for making ‘rocket’ starts, with Lewis Hamilton enjoying two excellent launches during the two practice starts conducted on Thursday.
Ferrari’s apparent superiority off the line comes from an architectural design decision to create a smaller turbo, which takes less energy to spin it.
Speaking about the challenge of F1’s new start procedures, Russell conceded Mercedes is yet to find an optimum solution.
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“I think we’ve got a lot of potential beneath us but to win a race, you’ve also got to get off the line quite well,” Russell said during Friday’s FIA press conference. “I think two starts I’ve made this week were worse than my worst-ever start in Formula 1. And Lewis down in P11 got into P1.
“So, at this stage, I don’t think it matters how quick you are. The thing that’s going to trip you up is going to be that tallest hurdle. And that’s what we’re trying to get our heads around right now. We’re stumbling on some at the moment.”
Oscar Piastri felt his starts weren’t too bad in his Mercedes-powered McLaren.
“I thought mine yesterday wasn’t too bad,” the Australian said. “I was last but I think I passed about four cars as well. So, I think it’s just very random at the moment.
“I think we’re all kind of learning what makes a good start, what makes a bad start. There’s some pretty big pitfalls you can find if you get yourself in trouble.
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“But even just managing the power and the procedure is kind of one thing. Also just the way we do starts is much more difficult than last year. You’ve got a lot of power. The MGU-K kicks in at a certain point. So it’s trickier from every single angle.”
And Piastri expects teams to get on top of their starts before too long.
“I think what we’re seeing at the moment is people just getting things right and other people getting them very wrong,” he added.
“So I think certainly in the first few races, we could see some starts that look a bit like what we have this week. But I think we’ll start to converge, hopefully, pretty quickly if you’re on the bad side of that.”
Ferrari’s power unit has a smaller turbo
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The Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman have also been benefiting from the Ferrari power unit in their Haas car.
“Better than my best ever start,” Bearman joked when asked how his practice starts have been. “No, no, I mean, it’s tough. It’s a bit more complicated than last year, that’s for sure.
“The procedure is much longer, but generally, we’ve been managing it quite well. I think there’s still a lot of variability, even between a good and a bad start, that the spread is much higher than last year and previous years.
“The step from ICE to when the K kicks in, that’s also a really important part of the start and that needs optimisation. We did a big step from last test to this test, but it’s still up and down.”
On Thursday, Ocon said: “I think everyone is taking it seriously, it looks like, because they were doing pre-start revs etc. And yes, me and Lewis we rocket past everybody, pretty much.
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“On my side they’ve put some safety before Turn 1 so I clipped after 200 metres! I was a bit frustrated, let’s say, that I had to reach the boost button to go faster.
“But it’s only testing and the important was the first 200 metres.”
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