(Motorsport-Total.com) – If you looked for weaknesses of the Mercedes team in the early phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season, you inevitably ended up with the topic of race starts. Several times the Silver Arrows lost positions at the lights going out, which especially set back championship leader Kimi Antonelli frequently.
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It went so far that before Canada, they had not finished the first lap of a Grand Prix as leader even once, although they had taken pole position in all races.
This problem had to be solved. Because starting at the front only to be swallowed up by the field immediately and facing a tough fight after just a few meters was definitely not the ideal scenario.
The size of the turbo played a role, but it was not the only cause: McLaren, which uses the same power unit, had managed several times to get off the line with good momentum.
The team from Woking, for example, manufactures its own gearbox and has chosen – among other peculiarities – relatively short gear ratios, a different philosophy than Mercedes.
A choice that, as team principal Andrea Stella confirmed, offers an advantage at the start, although it is not the only factor. On average, however, the McLaren drivers showed a superior start performance in two respects.
Kimi was not always the problem
The critical problem was consistency. Mercedes suffered not only from the fact that the initial acceleration was not always optimal but also from pronounced inconsistency at the start: in some cases, the damage was limited to losing just one position, while in other cases the drop was significantly larger.
This had already been evident during testing in Bahrain, where it took a very long time to achieve a good start. This inconsistency particularly affected Antonelli, who often fell back in the early phase of the race.
However, differentiation is necessary here, as the Italian was not always to blame. In Australia, for example, the fact that he arrived on the grid without power due to a miscalculation by the engineers meant he could not do burnouts to properly warm up the rear tires; additionally, his acceleration after releasing the clutch inevitably suffered from an empty battery.
In China, there was a misunderstanding with the race engineer regarding the mappings to be used at the start, while the problem in Miami was due to incorrect assessments by the engineers, who had expected a higher grip level from his starting position.
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The start parameters – from the torque to be applied to the mode and the timing of clutch engagement – were set based on an overestimated grip level, which triggered a chain reaction.
In Suzuka, however, the fault was mainly with the Italian, who made a mistake by releasing the clutch too quickly. This is an extremely sensitive component, where even a movement of a few degrees can have a decisive effect.
What Mercedes changed
For this reason, Mercedes had to address two areas: on the one hand, they worked on the software, as it was clear that critical problems had to be solved there. On the other hand, Antonelli decided to redesign the clutch lever for better ergonomics to improve the feel when releasing it.
The lever itself was not revolutionized; it remains the classic single-lever design that has been used for years. However, changes were made to the recess into which the fingers are inserted, allowing small position changes that enable more precise control during the start phase.
“We have a new clutch lever on my side that helps me be a bit more consistent when releasing the clutch,” Antonelli explained before Canada. “Of course, the team also worked hard on the software and the clutch itself to improve both performance and make the system a bit more robust.”
The recess is tailored to the needs of each driver, who must find the right feel for the bite point. In Canada, Mercedes seemed to have taken a step forward: in the sprint, Russell made a real rocket start, probably the best in the front rows.
In the race, the three start attempts and the slippery conditions caused by drizzle made precise assessment more difficult, but the performance when releasing the clutch cannot be rated negatively.
Nevertheless, one fact remained: even in Canada, no Mercedes was in the lead after the first lap because Lando Norris surged ahead on his intermediate tires. However, this was likely to hurt the McLaren driver more than help him quickly…
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