George Russell has accused Ferrari of being ‘selfish’ in not wanting to change the start procedure in China. Image: XPB Images
Several teams have pushed for adjustments following chaotic scenes at the opening round of the 2026 season in Melbourne, where slow launches and near misses highlighted potential safety concerns under the sport’s new regulations.
The controversy centres around the behaviour of the new power units and battery management before the race start.
Multiple drivers reported arriving on the grid with little electrical energy remaining after the formation lap, leaving them without electrical boost once the race began.
One of the most dramatic moments came when Franco Colapinto narrowly avoided Liam Lawson’s stationary Racing Bulls at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, raising alarm about the speed differentials between cars.
George Russell claimed the FIA is willing to make changes to address the issue but cannot do so without the backing of a supermajority of teams — something he says is currently being blocked.
“They could do [changes], I think they want to but they need a super majority from the teams which they don’t have,” Russell said.
“So you can probably guess which team is against that.”
Russell suggested Ferrari is among the teams resisting changes, arguing that those currently benefitting from stronger race starts are reluctant to alter the rules.
“Unfortunately, sometimes when you’re trying to make changes for the good of the sport, if a team has a competitive edge – like Ferrari at the moment with the race starts – they wouldn’t wish to see anything changing,” Russell added.
“I think half the grid got caught out by a quirk in the rules for the race start in Melbourne.”
The Mercedes driver explained that the issue stemmed from the energy harvesting limit applied during the formation lap, which can affect drivers differently depending on where they start on the grid.
“I think there was an error that caught a lot of teams out, which was the harvest limit on the formation lap,” Russell said.
“So a very quirky rule… every lap there’s a harvest limit.”
He added that drivers starting further forward were already counted within that lap before crossing the start-finish line, meaning energy used during the formation lap contributed toward the limit.
“So when I got halfway around the track, I could no longer charge the battery. I had no power to do proper burnouts.”
Russell said the FIA had explored removing the harvest limit to simplify the situation, but opposition from teams benefiting under the current system has prevented a change.
“The FIA did just want to make our life easier and just remove this harvest limit,” he said.
“But as often people have selfish views and they want to do what’s best for themselves.”
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen also acknowledged the issue, warning that starting with little battery energy could create dangerous situations if the problem persists.
“There are simple solutions, but they have to be approved by the FIA for everything related to the battery because, yes, starting with 0% battery is not much fun and also quite dangerous,” Verstappen said.
“So we are discussing with them to see what can be done, because we saw in Melbourne we almost had a huge accident at the start.”
Despite the debate, Russell believes teams will now be better prepared after experiencing the issue in Melbourne.
“So as I said, half the grid messed up in Melbourne. We’ll adjust.
“We know what we need to be wary of now.”
2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more
