Ferrari race start edge questioned after Haas ‘strange’ struggle

Esteban Ocon has warned that Formula 1’s new 2026 engines could force frontrunners to sit idle on the grid for ‘one minute 30’ before the lights go out.

Formula 1’s new engines are dominating the headlines in the lead-up to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, first because of the compression ratio saga and now due to race start concerns.

Haas driver says new engines risk chaotic Australian Grand Prix launch

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Running at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit last week at the first official pre-season test, many teams and drivers noted that race starts could be a problem this year with the new engines.

A key change to the engines has been the removal of the MGU-H, which means it takes far longer for the drivers to get their cars into the correct configuration for a race start.

The MGU-H helped cover up the turbo lag across the lower rev range, and without it, the cars are taking longer to prepare for launch than they did in the MGU-H era.

Ferrari appears to be the exception.

The Scuderia’s engine, it has been reported, can operate in higher gears than other manufacturers, perhaps due to a smaller turbo, so it doesn’t take as long to reach its ideal configuration.

But while Haas’ VF-26 is powered by a Ferrari engine, the American team isn’t having the same success with its launch.

“I think we are obviously working on that with the team,” Ocon told PlanetF1.com and other media in Bahrain. “It’s clear that the turbo lag is a very big topic. But we have to adapt to what the rules are.

“And it would not be nice, I think, for the top three to wait like one minute, 30 until the cars are stopped and have cold tyres into Turn 1.

“I think you are going to see a lot more struggling of the starts, and a lot more differences compared to other years before, where the worst start was losing one or two positions on the grid, now you could lose the whole lot.

“So we’re improving now step by step. It’s still early days, and unfortunately it’s not the best track to do starts as well, because the grip is very low.

“It’s interesting. It’s not like the old rally cars or the old cars with simple turbos where you can get it up to spin quite easily. What we do as drivers doesn’t have much of an input on that.

“It’s very strange, but I think it’s the same for all of us.”

More on F1 2026 race start concerns

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His team principal Ayoa Komatsu also weighed in on the issue, which will be on the table when the F1 Commission meets later this week.

It is understood a change to the start light procedure is up for discussion with either a minimum time or a delay to the minimum time for the final car to form up on the grid.

“I think start, yes,” Komatsu said of the F1 2026 engine issues.

“Start is definitely challenging. So yeah, I think starts definitely needs to be looked at. I’m sure we look at it before Melbourne.”

Asked if he was anticipating the drivers having to rev for 10 seconds before they can launch, he replied: “Yeah, not the exact number of seconds. But this is definitely not completely a surprise.

“We discussed this last year, but of course, we didn’t know last year exactly what we are dealing with. But yeah, it’s not a total surprise.

“But I think it’s important that we have a regulation such that everybody can do a decent start, so for the fans to understand to see it’s normal racing.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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