F1 | Chinese GP: Ferrari customer calls for changes to start procedure
The debate over Formula 1 starts is heating up: Ferrari is resisting further changes, but a customer driver has raised safety concerns. The FIA is willing to adjust the procedure already tested in Melbourne, including tweaks to battery management during the formation lap. Maranello, however, is aware of its design advantage over rivals and prefers to keep things as they are.
Shanghai reopens the starting procedure debate
At the Chinese Grand Prix, discussions on the start procedure have resurfaced. In Australia, drivers were given an extra five seconds to bring the turbo up to speed, but that wasn’t enough to prevent issues. Some drivers experienced depleted batteries—like Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar—while others went into anti-stall, such as Liam Lawson, narrowly avoided by Franco Colapinto.
The matter was brought to the FIA’s attention, which, according to The Race, made additional adjustments to the procedure. Ferrari opposed these changes. Maranello’s stance has drawn some criticism in the paddock—George Russell among them—but it is justified by the SF-26’s design advantage. Meanwhile, concerns have been raised from the Cadillac-powered customer teams.
Perez warns: “A big crash is coming”
Speaking in Shanghai, Sergio Perez, who uses a Ferrari Power Unit through Cadillac, voiced his worries: “It’s a shame to say, but it’s only a matter of time before a huge crash happens. These power units are very difficult to manage at the start. You can have a great launch or a terrible one, because so many different factors come into play.”
He added, “You can even go into anti-stall, like what happened to Lawson, and that can become very, very dangerous, because the speeds you reach in two or three seconds are extreme. So it’s a complicated situation, and honestly, I don’t really know what can be done about it. These new engines are simply very difficult to start.”
The friction between Ferrari’s technical dominance and Sergio Perez’s safety warnings creates a difficult balancing act for the FIA ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. In the new era of 2026, where every megajoule of energy counts, Ferrari’s “mushroom” starts are a legitimate fruit of their labor, but the unpredictability of the rest of the pack poses a genuine threat to the integrity of the race start. With the long, wide straight in Shanghai offering multiple lines of attack, a stalled car in the middle of the pack could lead to the exact disaster Perez is predicting. As the Sprint weekend approaches, the pressure is on for a compromise that respects engineering excellence without compromising driver safety. If a solution isn’t found before Sunday, the run down to Turn 1 will be the most tense 200 meters of the season so far.
