A complicated start
Charles Leclerc at the start of the Australian GP climbed from fourth to first position at the braking point of the first corner. Ferrari had already shown itself to be among the best cars when the lights went out in the various start practices carried out in testing, and Melbourne confirmed what currently seems to be a trend that can make the difference in favor of the Maranello Scuderia.
Yet Leclerc, before the lights went out – the procedure was very fast – never expected to take the lead of the race in Turn 1, quite the opposite. The Ferrari driver feared dropping back several positions because he noticed while waiting on the grid for the lights to come on that the battery was quite low.
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“I think we all had the same problem for some reason, so it’s something we need to review because my battery was also very, very low for some reason, probably a bit less than the others, which helped me take the lead, but still it was a situation far from optimal – Leclerc said in the press conference – I thought I would end up in eighth or ninth position, but then I started and saw that everyone had problems and I was the one with the fewest problems, which in the end is what matters. But there is a lot of room to improve those starts. It was well below optimal, I think, for everyone. We expected a chaotic start and then I think the lights went out very, very, very quickly, so I think that surprised everyone and made the situation even more chaotic.”
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