Mercedes: starts now priority

Kimi Antonelli said a clutch-finger placement mistake at the Japanese Grand Prix left him “very, very mad” after he dropped from pole to sixth at the start, though he recovered to win the race. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory also moved him into the drivers’ championship lead, making the 19‑year‑old the youngest-ever leader in Formula 1 history. George Russell described pre-season practice starts as “worse than my worst-ever start in Formula 1,” warning that getting launches right could become the “tallest hurdle” this season. Technical changes to the 2026 power units — chiefly the removal of the MGU‑H — have reintroduced turbo lag, meaning drivers must spin the turbo to speed during the pre‑start sequence to get full boost at lights‑out. The Race has identified a separate procedural issue: a harvest‑limit timing quirk on the formation lap can leave cars on the front rows with depleted battery harvest when they reach the grid, creating uneven launch performance across the field. That timing and battery disparity has heightened safety concerns after near‑misses at recent starts, and it has fuelled a row between teams — with Mercedes and Red Bull pushing for rule tweaks while Ferrari argues teams should adapt to the current regulations. Telemetry and GPS analysis published after Suzuka indicate Mercedes’ power unit can match rivals off the line, but launch execution and start procedure remain the weak points the team is studying. Mercedes and its engineers have been reported to be accelerating work on launch sequencing and energy‑management routines during the current five‑week break before the next round in Miami to test procedural and software adjustments.