Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari’s advantage at starts, evidenced in the Australian GP, should not be maintained throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season. The Monegasque driver stated that as teams adapt to the new rules, everyone will be able to exploit the same performance window for strong starts.
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“Unfortunately, I don’t think we will maintain this advantage. Whenever the engines are operating in the optimal window, there won’t be much difference between the cars at the start. We have an advantage in terms of the robustness of our system, as it seems we hit this correct window a bit more easily than others, especially Mercedes,” Leclerc told GPblog.
The Ferrari driver also highlighted that Mercedes should be able to adjust quickly to reach the same level of performance at starts: “Once Mercedes figures out how to put themselves in the right window, I don’t think there will be much difference between the cars. I don’t expect them to take long to figure it out. I don’t believe this is an advantage of ours that will last throughout the season,” he added.
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Ferrari’s fast start caught attention at the Australian GP: Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took advantage of brilliant starts, jumping to first and third places, respectively, after starting from fourth and seventh positions on the grid.
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