“I think two starts I’ve made this week were worse than my worst ever start in Formula 1.”
– George Russell
Positivity around Ferrari continues to surge after a successful final day of winter testing, with Charles Leclerc completing 132 laps and achieving the fastest lap time (1:31.992) out of anyone across the six days of pre-season in Bahrain.
The Scuderia also seem to have an advantage on race launches, as Lewis Hamilton ‘rocketed’ past rivals much further up the grid during Thursday morning’s practice start procedure.
Race starts our ‘tallest hurdle,’ says Russell
Photo: Race Pictures
Speaking to media, including GPblog, during Day 3’s lunch break, Kimi Antonelli conceded race starts are Mercedes’ “weak point,” and his teammate Russell clearly agrees.
“At this stage, I don’t think it matters how quick you are, the thing that’s going to trip you up is going to be that tallest hurdle and that’s what we’re trying to get our heads around right now and we’re stumbling on something at the moment.”
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, driving for a Mercedes engine customer, admitted start procedures are “much more difficult than last year,” but instead expressed confidence the grid will eventually “converge” after a few races.
Piastri said: “It’s trickier from every single angle. And I think what we’re seeing at the moment is people just getting things right and other people getting them very wrong.
“So, I think certainly at the first few races, we could see some starts that look a bit like what we have this week. But I think we’ll start to converge hopefully pretty quickly if you’re on the bad side of that.”
Leclerc and Ferrari shine ahead of Norris and Verstappen on final day in Bahrain
It was a superb showing from Leclerc on the final day of Bahrain testing, not only did the Monegasque become the only driver to dip into the 1:31s across both Bahrain tests, he also racked up an impressive 132 laps in the Ferrari Sf-26.