Overview
- Team principal Fred Vasseur said “enough is enough,” rejecting further start‑procedure changes after Ferrari engineered its power unit to the rules and warned the FIA about start risks last year.
- The current start protocol includes a five‑second flashing‑blue pre‑start to help spool turbos, which the FIA introduced for safety after Bahrain testing exposed launch issues.
- Ferrari-powered cars have repeatedly launched better under the new formula, a gain linked to a smaller turbo, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton leading into Turn One in Melbourne and Shanghai.
- George Russell called for another tweak and suggested Ferrari were being selfish for resisting changes, a charge Ferrari rebutted by noting it had already compromised once.
- Broader debate over the 2026 rules intensified as Max Verstappen condemned the racing while figures such as Toto Wolff, Guenther Steiner and Juan Pablo Montoya urged patience or criticized his stance; compression‑ratio hot/cold checks start June 1 and ADUO windows later in the season offer in‑year PU development paths.