Lights out and go! We all know the start of an F1 race by heart, but there is much more behind that familiar start. Surprisingly, this detail has sparked one of the first controversies of the season.

It seems simple enough: the cars line up, the lights come on and then go out, and then they roar around the track until, eventually, Lance Stroll crashes. However, the reality is more complex. Before we get into the controversy, let's first review the basic starting procedure.

The action begins long before the lights sequence is turned on, the most exciting moment of the race. In fact, one of the key moments occurs between 30 and 40 minutes before the lights come on: the reconnaissance lap with rain tires, when the cars This lap is essential for assessing the conditions on race day.

Once completed, the drivers stop near the crowded grid, leave their cars, and help push the cars to their assigned positions. The reason? When they get out, each driver chats briefly with their engineer and composes themselves before immediately running to the front of the grid to listen to the national anthem.

With serious expressions, they wait for the ceremony to end before returning to their cars and fastening their seat belts. Next, the blankets covering the tires are removed and the engines are started as late as possible. However, it is important to ensure that all equipment is off the grid and behind the white lines at least 15 seconds before the formation lap begins.

The formation lap serves to warm up the tires, adjust the engine temperature, prepare the clutch, and preheat the brakes. In short, it is the final check before the car is ready to start, while the teams, with all their equipment, rush back to the garage.

Once the 22 drivers are settled in their respective positions, the five lights on the portico come on one at a time, with a one-second interval between each one. After a brief but crucial random delay in turning off the lights, it's time to start the race.

Where does the controversy arise? Interestingly, it's because there are five seconds between the drivers taking their places on the grid and the lights going out completely.

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In short, the 2026 cars have difficulty starting properly from the starting line. This problem was already apparent during preliminary testing in Bahrain, but the fact that only two cars managed to get off the line in a practice session clearly showed the magnitude of the problem to those watching from home.

The problem lies in the design of the new power units, which forces several cars to rev their engines at high intensity for an extended period of time in order to get off the line properly. If a driver fails to get the turbo up to optimum speed, they could be left stranded on the grid.

Clearly, this poses a risk. For this reason, several team principals are calling for the start procedure to be extended to give everyone the opportunity to start safely. The proposal is to give drivers an additional ten seconds between the last car joining the grid and the lights going out, which is the time needed for the turbochargers to reach the ideal speed.

However, one team disagrees. Ferrari anticipated this problem during the design of its 2026 power unit and, seeing that other teams seemed to ignore its warnings, developed an engine that starts better than the rest. According to reports, they even blocked a change to the starting procedure when the issue was raised in mid-2025, arguing that the playing field should not be leveled so late just because their competitors chose not to modify their engines.

Both the FIA and the F1 Commission seem determined to reach a consensus before the lights go out in Melbourne. Although the exact solution is still unknown, given the safety aspect, it is difficult to imagine that the current scheme will be maintained.

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