Charles Leclerc grabbed the lead of the race from fourth on the grid at the start of the Australian Grand Prix.
However the Ferrari driver said he could have made an even better start than he did. Leclerc said he didn’t have enough electrical energy when he lined up on the grid.
“It looked [good] from outside but I think we all had the same problem for some reason, so this is something we’ve got to review,” he said.
Despite not having all his available power, Leclerc overtook Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull and both Mercedes as they covered the 272-metre sprint to the first corner.
“My battery was very, very low for some reason, probably a bit higher than theirs, which helped me to get in the front, but very sub-optimal anyway,” he said. “I thought I would end up P8, P9, but then I started and I saw everybody had issues and I had the one with the least issues, which at the end is what counts.”
He believes most drivers will be able to make better starts in later races. “There’s a lot of margin to improve those starts,” he said. “It was very sub-optimal, I think, for everybody.”
Leclerc said the short hold between the five starting lights being illuminated and then extinguished contributed to the varied starts drivers experienced.
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“We expected a messy start, then I think on top of that as well we are on such a fine line before getting everything right on the [power units], and the lights [went] off very, very, very quickly,” he explained. “So I think it surprised on top of that everybody and made it even more critical. It was kind of crazy.”
Russell said he “made a bad start” from pole position as Leclerc got ahead of him. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who shared the front row with Russell, also got away poorly due to wheelspin. “Unfortunately the start was really bad and I lost a lot of places,” he admitted.
Hadjar, who lined up third, got away well but suffered a loss of power almost immediately. He retired on lap 11 but said “at turn one I knew the race was finished.”
“I had issues on the formation lap already and then at the start I had no battery,” Hadjar told Viaplay. “So that was good.
“I took the lead for like half a second, and then no power. Then the SOC [state of charge] was empty for like the first couple of laps so I had no power in the straights for a while.
“Then it started to recover. But anyway, the engine sound was terrible. It felt like an engine that was going to explode. I told the team and it happened.”
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2026 Australian Grand Prix
- Verstappen accused Lindblad of “brake-checking” him in the pit lane
- “It’s a big advantage to be second”: Russell and Leclerc’s radio from their lead battle
- Leclerc went from fourth to first at start despite ‘very low battery’
- First-lap near-miss with Lawson was “scary moment” for Colapinto
- F1 has become like Mario Kart with new rules, say Verstappen and Leclerc
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine