Alex Albon expects the messy practice starts seen in Bahrain testing to be a thing of the past when Formula 1 heads to Melbourne.
The majority of sessions ended with a trial of a different start procedure, which included a second formation lap and a five-second blue warning light for the drivers before the start lights began to be turned on.
Alex Albon expects smoother F1 2026 race start in Melbourne
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The change of start procedure was trialled in Bahrain in part due to safety concerns from drivers, as well as offering drivers as much opportunity as possible to build the revs into the right range on the power unit, given the significantly different way in which cars will get off the line this year.
The removal of the MGU-H means drivers will move off the line using internal combustion power in conjunction with the turbocharger, with concerns over turbo lag if drivers do not sit on the grid long enough to build sufficient charge – which several drivers raised as a worry in case of starting towards the rear of the field.
What did catch the eye, though, was the way that Ferrari-powered cars managed to launch in these practice starts, “gaining noticeably better getaways than those around them on multiple occasions.
Mercedes driver George Russellidentified starts as a potential weakness for his team, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman, utilising Ferrari power, joked the opposite may be the case for him.
But for Williams driver Albon, he explained that the disparity seen on the grid will most likely have been as a result of different drivers using different tyres of different temperatures and ages.
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As a result, he predicts that – while potentially “not as smooth” as before – the race start in Melbourne will not look as drastically different as seen in pre-season testing.
“I don’t think what you’re seeing is really what’s going to happen,” Albon told PlanetF1.com and other outlets in Bahrain.
“You’ve got drivers who were finishing long runs, going into a practice start, doing high mileage on a tyre that’s already hot.
“So, you’re seeing this chaos of some people getting good starts, bad starts. But actually, it’s not as bad as that.
“I think once everyone has the same tyres on the car and it’s the same formation lap for everyone, it will look – maybe not as smooth as last year – but it will be really okay.”
Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg ( also sought to play down concerns about race starts, given the lack of real-world data the teams have in representative conditions, with no full-grid starts having taken place yet.
Where the previous regulations were mature and the start sequence was a smoother process, it will be a journey of discovery for the drivers this time around.
“I think that’s one of the areas that is quite different from last year and the past,” Hulkenberg said.
“I think it’s still very fresh, still very new. We don’t have that much experience, especially, a proper race race start with all the cars on the grid.
“I think it’s one of the areas where a lot is still to discover and to do, and then cleaning up to do, because on the previous generation of PUs that was perfect and seamless and smooth, and, quite naturally, this is a new set of regulations, and obviously there’s a lot to do and to explore there.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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