Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has hit back at Mercedes driver George Russell by insisting “enough is enough” amid the row over this season’s race starts.
Among the new regulations for 2026 is a five-second ‘pre-start’ procedure which has been put in place to help drivers get off the line smoothly as they deal with the change in power units.
Ferrari have had the most impressive starts of all 11 teams in the opening two races, with Lewis Hamilton going from third to first in China last Sunday.
But championship leader Russell feels the rules still need to be altered — and even claimed Ferrari were being “a bit silly” and “selfish” for wanting to keep the regulations as they are.
Now Ferrari chief Vasseur has responded to those comments by doubling down on the team’s position.
He said: “We already changed massively the rule of the start with the five-second story.
“One year ago, I went to the FIA. I raised the hand on the starting procedure to say ‘guys it will be difficult’.
“The reply was clear that we have to design the car fitting with the regulation and not to change the regulation fitting with the car.
“We designed the car fitting with the regulation, the change of the five seconds, the blue light story, didn’t help us at all, but I think at one stage enough is enough.”
When pressed on whether he saw the matter as “case closed”, he replied: “For me, yes.”
Ferrari have enjoyed a positive start to the season with third and fourth place finishes in both Melbourne and Shanghai.
However, they still have a healthy gap to close to Mercedes — who will look to build on successive one-twos in Japan next weekend.
Meanwhile, reigning Constructors’ Champions McLaren, who boast Oscar Piastri and 2025 Drivers’ Champion Lando Norris, have endured a nightmare start to the season.
Piastri is yet to complete a lap, while Norris also DNF’ed in China after a fifth-place in Australia.