‘Unfair on us’ Ferrari hits out at F1 rule change after safety concerns

Ferrari is unhappy with Formula 1’s decision to change the rules to improve safety at starts, insisting it was “a bit unfair”.

The Italian outfit had previously blocked a move to alter the rules surrounding starts before the 2026 season began, however, a raft of rule changes introduced at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month included tweaks to race start procedures.

A new ‘low power start detection’ system was developed to combat safety concerns relating to starts and drivers suffering with abnormally low acceleration shortly after releasing the clutch.

Ferrari gained an early advantage with race starts after developing a solution to the issues having initially seen its own safety concerns ignored a year ago. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have enjoyed some lightning-fast getaways this year, which is the direct result of Ferrari choosing to design a smaller turbo.

Following the rule changes, team principal Fred Vasseur can’t help but feel like Ferrari is being punished for its ingenuity, after seeing its advantage slightly diminished.

“The trade-off is do we want to make one tenth of a second [in lap time] or do we want to lose five positions at the start,” Vasseur told The Race. “If you ask the engineers they say, okay, let’s have a good start.

“Imagine without the blue light, some cars would be still on the grid in China. You can put on the table the safety grounds, and it's the right of the FIA and I have just to accept. But at the end, I think it's also a bit unfair on us.

“I went to the FIA one year ago, and we spoke about this. We spoke about this in SAC [Sporting Advisory Committee], we spoke about this in the PUAC [Power Unit Advisory Committee].

“And I really appreciated the answer from the FIA [that] you have to design the car for the regulations, not the regulations for your car. I think this is a very good approach.

“So then to have half of the grid, 40% of the grid complaining, that it's mega dangerous and so on. Politically [it] was well played but not very fair.”

Vasseur admitted Ferrari has little option but to accept the changes as they were made on safety grounds, even if it does not agree.

“It was a safety ground. I don't have to accept,” Vasseur said.

“It was a decision based on safety grounds. It's up to them. Even if everybody is against, they can decide.

“It was a bit harsh for us. I understand what they did for safety grounds, but the other option would have been to ask them [the other cars] to start from the pitlane if they think it was not safe.

“For us it's also a choice that we made. We developed an engine with a criteria and somehow they changed the rule at the last minute.”