It's "case closed" as far as Fred Vasseur is concerned as rivals continue to call for rethink on starts.

In much the same way that Max Verstappen was way ahead of the game in questioning how the rules overhaul would affect the racing, Ferrari was on the ball in terms of predicting that race starts were going to be an issue.

Both the Dutchman and the Italian racing team were ignored, yet proven right.

Rival teams, along with the FIA, clearly thought the Maranello outfit was up to something and blocked any attempt at change.

Then came pre-season testing and immediately it became clear that starts were going to be an issue... however, not for Ferrari, whose engine featured a smaller turbo and thereby aided a quicker, cleaner getaway.

Whilst safety was the main point, it was clear that rivals were miffed by Ferrari's advantage and argued for a change to the regulations, which the Italian team promptly vetoed.

Step forward George Russell.

"Unfortunately, sometimes when you're trying to make changes for the good of the sport, if a team has a competitive edge, like Ferrari at the moment with the race starts, they wouldn't wish to see anything changing.

"I think half the grid got caught out by a quirk in the rules for the race start in Melbourne," added the Mercedes driver, who was mysteriously silent during the compression ratio saga, other than to repeatedly insist that Ferrari was the benchmark power unit.

"We now know that, but because there was some resistance from some teams to change, we're just going to have to work around it," he added.

Ferrari had already agreed to a change to the start procedure - allowing an extra 5 seconds to the process in order to build turbo power - but draws the line at changing the regulations further.

"I think that we already changed massively the rule of the start with the five second story," says Vasseur. "One year ago I went to the FIA, I raised the hand on the starting procedure to say guys it will be difficult.

"The reply was clear that we have to design the car fitting with the regulation and not to change the regulation fitting with the car," adds the Frenchman.

"We designed the car fitting with the regulation, the change of the five seconds, the blue light story, didn't help us at all, but I think at one stage enough is enough."

Asked if this means that, as far as Ferrari is concerned, further changes to the start procedure was essentially "case closed", he replied: "For me, yes."

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 3 hours ago

"The salient point here is issues where raised well over a year ago but those in charge thought they new best instead of listening to those that did know best and thats why our beloved sport is in this sorry state. "

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Editor, 5 hours ago

"@ Celtic Tiger

To my eternal shame I had to Google the Colonel. The Numbskulls really stuck out in my memory."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 12 hours ago

"@Editor - A fellow man of culture, I see! Thinking on it more, I suppose we can assign Domenicali the Colonel Blink role in all this."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Editor, 16 hours ago

"@ Celtic Tiger

I used to love the Numbskulls.

Which is a lot more than I can say about 'Woody'!"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 16 hours ago

"Based on the scathing words of Doughnut-icali, calling 99.9% of the fanbase deaf/dumb and the remaining .1% who would understand the difference's in the changes to, essentially, mind our own business one can imagine the arrogance shown towards the drivers and team personnel who also seen the writing on the wall before a wheel was turned on track.

Also, considering that Ferrari did not exploit a poorly worded regulation rule and built a system with the foreseeable problem in mind, the egomaniacs at FIA/FOM are lucky that they were gracious enough to compromise and have the initial starting procedure change. So, any further changes deserves the two finger wave and rightfully so. Vasseur has been reasonable enough with those dopes - more gracious than I would have been.
As for George Russell, when I was a kid I used to go down to the corner shop every week with my pocket money and buy The Beezer and in it was a strip called The Numbskulls. When I watch Russell talk these days I can vividly imagine those very numbskulls working his mouth while Brainy receives commands from Toto and his PR."

Rating: Positive (3) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by rambler, 23 hours ago

"I think the motor is the worst part of the new regs. All the engine manufacturers built an engine that would work in a consumer hybrid car. In hybrid cars, the car starts on the electric motor, the IC motor is used when more power is needed, more acceleration, high speed cruise and to charge the battery. Ferrari built an engine to match the rules, Start on the IC motor, add the electric motor when more power is needed! "

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by JamesD, 24/03/2026 13:36

"I would be taking the same stance as Fred to be honest. Ferrari designed something better than the rest of the field for the starts, all credit to them. I thought Formula 1 was about innovation ..."

Rating: Positive (7) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by Wokingchap, 24/03/2026 12:38

"While i think it's totally wrong that ferrari have the luxury of a veto, Vasseur has a good point."

Rating: Positive (5) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Vasseur stands firm on starts

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page