Formula 1’s five-second pre-start procedure, introduced this season to give drivers more time to prepare their cars on the grid, is set to remain in place for 2027. What initially emerged as a political compromise between teams with different technical requirements now appears to have become a permanent part of the current regulatory cycle, with Nikolas Tombazis seeing no reason to remove it.
The issue has been debated extensively since the beginning of Formula 1’s new technical era. Ferrari was particularly involved in the discussion because the Scuderia had already identified the potential difficulties surrounding race starts and developed its own technical response, while rival teams pushed for additional preparation time. The FIA ultimately settled on the extra five seconds, but the measure is no longer being treated simply as a temporary solution.
How F1’s five-second pre-start procedure emerged in Bahrain
The issue first became a major talking point during winter testing in Bahrain, when several teams reported difficulties getting their turbochargers operating correctly during practice starts. Some wanted additional time to prepare the system before the lights went out, while others were in a different position technically.
Ferrari, benefiting from its smaller turbocharger, had already raised the problem the previous year without its concerns being acted upon and had instead chosen to develop its own solution. The different approaches divided the paddock and eventually produced a compromise: a five-second pre-start preparation period, accompanied by flashing blue lights once all of the cars are lined up on the grid.
The change was particularly significant because Ferrari had already developed its own start-line solution rather than waiting for the regulations to be adapted around the problem.
Frédéric Vasseur made Ferrari’s position clear from the beginning: “Enough is enough.”
Those five seconds effectively became the maximum acceptable concession in order to avoid altering the competitive balance any further. Ferrari did not want additional regulatory intervention to remove an advantage it believed had been achieved by designing its car around the rules as they originally stood, a position Frédéric Vasseur defended strongly during the debate.
Nikolas Tombazis says the five-second F1 procedure is now established
Since then, the safety concerns surrounding race starts have been addressed through separate measures, allowing the FIA to distinguish between competitive preparation and genuine safety problems. For Nikolas Tombazis, that distinction is important when considering why the five-second procedure should remain.
“The five seconds are now an established procedure, I don’t see why it should change during this regulatory cycle,” Nikolas Tombazis explained.
He stressed that the measure should not primarily be viewed as a safety intervention. Instead, the objective is to provide consistency when cars with different technical characteristics reach and prepare on the grid.
“Different cars arrive on the grid at different times, and the drivers need to be able to prepare for a proper start.”
The five-second period therefore exists to standardise the preparation available to the field rather than to solve the safety risks associated with a car accelerating abnormally slowly once the race has actually started.
The real safety concern is F1’s low-power start detection system
Safety nevertheless remains an important part of the wider discussion. After what happened in Melbourne, when Liam Lawson got away extremely slowly and Franco Colapinto narrowly managed to avoid him, the FIA introduced a dedicated low-power start detection system as part of its response to concerns over the starting procedure.
The system identifies abnormally low acceleration shortly after the clutch is released and can automatically trigger MGU-K deployment. Its purpose is to ensure that a car suffering an exceptionally poor launch still achieves a minimum level of acceleration, reducing the danger posed to drivers approaching from behind.
Nikolas Tombazis explained: “We have worked on emergency recovery solutions, electrical components that help a car recover when it gets away very slowly.”
Crucially, the system is not intended to provide a competitive benefit. In practical terms, it can turn a disastrous launch into a merely poor one, but it cannot transform it into a good start. Its function is limited to preventing a dangerous situation rather than improving outright performance.
That distinction is particularly relevant in Ferrari’s case. The Scuderia had already found its own solution to the original technical problem without requiring a regulatory change to help its launch performance, which explains why further concessions became such a sensitive subject during the opening part of the season.
FIA separates start safety from competitive preparation
The FIA has therefore been able to divide the two issues. Exceptionally slow starts are addressed through a dedicated safety system, while the five-second pre-start period remains in place to provide order, consistency and a uniform preparation window across cars with different characteristics.
For Nikolas Tombazis, the five-second measure has moved beyond its origins as a compromise and effectively become an established part of Formula 1’s starting procedure. That means the 2027 season is expected to begin with the same fundamental system still in place, rather than Formula 1 returning to the start process used before the current regulatory cycle.
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