A chaotic start
As expected, the start of the Australian Grand Prix was anything but straightforward. No car remained stationary on the grid, but some drivers had a very slow getaway – with great risks as in the case of Lawson and Colapinto – and others found themselves with no battery or almost none when the lights went out. And this circumstance then forced some – like Max Verstappen – to be unable to attack on the first lap, as there was an urgency to recharge. Finally, the very rapid switching off of the lights should be noted, which contributed to creating further chaos.
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The drivers’ accounts and the teams’ explanations
Speaking openly about what happened was Red Bull, with team principal Laurent Mekies: “Both Verstappen and Hadjar started the race without battery. But it is our responsibility to avoid finding ourselves in that situation. We encountered unexpected limitations in how it is possible to charge and discharge the battery during the formation lap. We were unable to reach the right state of charge for the start, due to acceleration, braking, and having to heat brakes and tires typical of the formation lap. For the drivers, this meant having to charge the battery during the first lap, and obviously it wasn’t pleasant“. Both Hadjar and Verstappen therefore had to start the race on the defensive, without the possibility of making up positions.
Mekies added an interpretation for what happened, suggesting that the characteristics of the circuit played their part: “By going slower in the final sector, it becomes much more difficult to recharge the battery, because the recovery action of the MGU-K is reduced”.
Already at the end of the formation lap Verstappen had noticed the problem and communicated via radio: “Mate, my battery is empty. It’s not charging at all. The battery, f**k!“. The Dutchman then explained: “Terrible, I had no battery. Somehow during the formation lap it drained completely. I started with a dead battery”.
Hadjar was also very direct in his comment: “I already had problems on the formation lap and at the start I was without battery. I took the lead for half a second and then I had no more power. The charge remained empty for the first 2 laps and I had no power on the straight for a while, then it started to recover”.
Something very similar also happened to Mercedes, as told by Simone Resta – strategic development director -: “On the starting procedure we were unable to optimize it as a team. We were quite short on battery and this happened because it was the first time we tried the full procedure. The drivers managed to stay calm. We will make sure to learn and come back stronger next time”.
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director, confirmed: “The start was difficult. We didn’t do a good enough job in managing the limited energy on the formation lap and both drivers found themselves with a dead battery, and we had to recharge immediately”.
George Russell – later the winner – in fact indicated the start as the most critical point of his race: “At the start we had no battery and we were lucky, because it could have gone even worse. At the beginning it was a hell of a fight. We knew it would be tough, but we got to the grid and I had no battery left. So I had a bad start and found myself fighting with Leclerc”.
Even Andrea Kimi Antonelli had the same trouble and lost several positions when the lights went out: “I couldn’t even do a burnout while arriving on the grid, because I had no power and I was very worried because the car didn’t respond when I went on the throttle. When I reached my starting box and found ‘zero’ on the battery I got a bit scared”.
Ferrari got off to a very good start, with Charles Leclerc moving into the lead at the first corner. But not even the Monegasque was exempt from these problems: “From the outside it looked like a good start, but I think for some reason we all had the same problem. For some reason the battery was very, very low. Probably a bit higher than the others, which helped me get in front, but not at the top. I thought I would find myself eighth or ninth, but in the end I was the one with the fewest problems”.
Leclerc also highlighted the rapid switching off of the lights: “We expected a messy start, but the lights also went out very, very quickly and I think they surprised everyone, making the situation even more critical. It was all a bit crazy”.
Finally, the chat between Leclerc and Russell in the cool-down room was interesting, with the Englishman confirming: “We were both (meaning also Antonelli, ed.) with the battery at 0“, and the Ferrari driver replied: “Hadjar too. I had 20% and I had more than you“.
