The Mercedes team is keen to improve poor race starts as quickly as possible. The Silver Arrows have already taken pole position three times this season, but also lost it three times at the start of the race. Although the team eventually regained the lead, Mercedes is now doing everything it can to improve the starts: ‘McLaren showed at Suzuka that our power unit can indeed start well,’ says deputy technical director Simone Resta.
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Mercedes is currently the team to beat in Formula 1. With three victories in three Grands Prix for the Silver Arrows, and also the sprint victory in China, Mercedes remains undefeated in 2026. Yet the team remains on its guard, and is particularly keen to tackle the poor race starts. Both drivers, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, have lost at least one position at every Grand Prix start so far.
“We know that this is currently probably one of the – if not the – weakest performance characteristics of our car,” admits Simone Resta, deputy technical director at Mercedes, in the team’s Race Debrief. “We are giving this topic the highest priority to improve it for the upcoming races.”
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‘Our power unit can start well’
According to Resta, the problem is specific to the W17, as McLaren – which has the same power unit as Mercedes – is able to get off the starting line better. Oscar Piastri even had a world-class start at Suzuka and immediately took the lead in the race. “We know, for example, looking at McLaren’s start in Suzuka, that our power unit can start well,” Resta also notes. “We will do our best to improve our performance in this area for Miami and ensure that we can defend every position we can achieve in qualifying in the best possible way.”
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