F1 safety fears as Australian Grand Prix tipped to be ‘disaster’

start, australia, verstappen, norris, piastri — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 safety fears as Australian Grand Prix tipped to be ‘disaster’

Oscar Piastri is unsure about the new regulations

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 16 February 2026 21:52 Updated: 23:30

McLaren F1 star Oscar Piastri has explained the one issue in 2026 which could be a 'recipe for disaster'.

After challenging for the world championship last year with team-mate Lando Norris and four-time champion Max Verstappen, Piastri is currently gearing up for another year in which he will hope to be in championship contention.

But the wholesale regulation changes mean that it is unknown as of yet whether McLaren will maintain the competitiveness that we have seen from them in the last two seasons, in which they have won back-to-back constructors' titles.

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New power unit and chassis regulations mean that drivers have lots of new aspects to get used to in the cockpit, including how best to maximise a race start.

During pre-season testing in Bahrain, a practice start from the drivers saw just two of them get away cleanly, while other cars were left bogged down, with it thought to be harder to get the turbos spooled up in time with the new power units.

And Piastri has now voiced his concerns about this, claiming that it could be a 'recipe for disaster' unless the FIA and the F1 commission can agree on a new procedure before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, set to take place at Albert Park on Sunday March 8.

"Starts need to be addressed, because, probably as we've all seen, it's a pretty complicated process now to have a safe start, let alone a competitive one," he told media in Bahrain.

"There's plenty of topics to address. Starts, and overtaking is certainly going to be different as well.

"(Also) whether we use straight mode at the start or not. I think a pack of 22 cars with a couple hundred points less downforce sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, so there's a few of those aspects that need to be spoken about.

"The thing is, everyone's going to need different things for the start, and to be completely honest with you, I'm not sure any of us know exactly what we need yet.

"There's so many things just from an even borderline safety point of view that need to be kind of figured out on track, that do need addressing."

Speaking about the farcical practice start during Bahrain testing when his McLaren did not get off the line, Piastri said: "I got told to wait until whoever was in front of me had gone and then do my own launch, and not do it to the lights.

"Clearly, some other people had a different idea. So that was nothing to do with the power units."

Have Ferrari sorted 2026 starts?

Ferrari reportedly told F1 and the FIA about the difficulty of being able to get off the line with the new power units around a year ago, and their power unit has supposedly been designed to be the best when it comes to starts.

Despite this, an upcoming meeting of the F1 commission and the FIA to discuss starts has been called, and it's likely that rules around starts will change, for safety reasons.

This may mean that Ferrari's time spent developing their power unit to be great off the line might have actually been for nothing, but drivers and the other teams will be thankful if start procedures do change to reflect the strengths of the new power units.

This change would likely include extending the starting procedure as to ensure that all drivers are able to get their turbo wound up to be able to have a fast launch as opposed to bogging down and being left on the line.

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