Ferrari has been critical of the recent adjustment to the regulations around starts, which was introduced during the race weekend in Miami. The FIA decided to introduce a new system that – with safety in mind – aims to prevent too low acceleration when starting off. Ferrari had previously gained an advantage thanks to its own technical solution, with which Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had several strong starts this season.
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According to Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, the team is now being punished for that ingenuity. “Our consideration was: do we want to gain a tenth of a second in lap time, or do we want to lose five positions at the start?” the Frenchman told The Race. “If you ask the engineers, they say: ‘Okay, then let’s choose a good start.’ You can argue the safety reasons – and that is the FIA’s right, so I have to accept that,” he emphasized. “But in the end, it also feels a bit unfair to us.”
Dangerous starts
The new balance between combustion engine and battery already caused dangerous situations during the opening race in Melbourne. For example, Liam Lawson mistimed his start, causing the Racing Bulls to barely move from their spot. Franco Colapinto, who started behind him, narrowly avoided a serious crash. According to Vasseur, Ferrari had already raised this issue with the FIA and various committees within the sport more than a year ago.
“I went to the FIA a year ago and we talked about this,” he explained. “I really appreciated the FIA’s response: ‘You have to design the car for the regulations, not the regulations for your car.’ But then a large number of drivers started complaining that it was dangerous. Politically, it’s all cleverly played, but it’s not really fair.”
Although Ferrari accepts the decision, frustration remains high in Maranello. “It was a safety issue, so in the end I have to agree with that,” said Vasseur. “Even if everyone is against it, they can make that decision. For us, it just hit hard. I understand why they did this for safety reasons, but an alternative would have been to let other cars start from the pit lane if it was thought to be unsafe. We developed our engine based on certain criteria, but then the rules were changed at the last moment.”
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