A chaotic route
As expected, the start of the Australian Grand Prix it was anything but linear. No car remained stationary on the grid, but some drivers had a very slow start – with great risks as in the case of Lawson and Colapinto – and others they found themselves without battery or almost when the traffic lights went out. And this circumstance then forced some – like Max Verstappen – not to be able to attack on the first lap, given that he was there urgency to recharge. Finally, it is worth mentioning the very rapid switching off of the traffic lights, which contributed to creating further chaos.
The stories of the drivers and the explanations of the teams
Red Bull spoke openly about what happened, with the team principal Laurent Mekies: “Both Verstappen and Hadjar started the race without a battery. But it is our responsibility to avoid being in that situation. We found some unexpected limitations in the way in which you can charge and discharge the battery during the reconnaissance lap. We were unable to reach the right state of charge for the start, due to acceleration, braking, and having to warm up the brakes and tires typical of the reconnaissance lap. For the pilots this meant having to charge the battery during the first rideand obviously it wasn’t pleasant“Both Hadjar and Verstappen therefore had to start the race on defense, without the possibility of recovering positions.
Mekies added a key to understanding what happened, suggesting that the characteristics of the circuit had their weight: “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 reconnaissance tour Verstappen he had noticed the problem and had communicated via radio: “Dude, my battery is dead. It doesn’t load at all. The battery, damn it!“The Dutchman then explained: “Terrible, I had no battery. Somehow during the reconnaissance lap it was completely discharged. I left with a flat battery.”
Hadjar was also very direct in his comment: “I had problems already on the formation lap and at the start I had no battery. I took the lead by half a second and then I no longer had any 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 pick up.”
Something very similar also happened to Mercedesas told by Simone Resta – director of strategic development -: “We were unable to optimize the starting procedure at team level. We were pretty low on battery and this was because it was the first time we tried the full procedure. The pilots managed to remain calm. We will make sure we learn and come back stronger next time.”
Andrew Shovlinhead of Mercedes track engineers, confirmed: “The start was difficult. We didn’t do a good enough job of managing the limited energy on the reconnaissance lap and both pilots found themselves with a flat battery, and we had to recharge immediately.”
George Russell – then 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 been 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 got off to a bad start and found myself fighting with Leclerc.”
Also Andrea Kimi Antonelli he had the same problem and lost several positions when the traffic lights went out: “I couldn’t even do a burn out on the way to the gridbecause I had no power and I was very worried because the car didn’t respond when I stepped on the accelerator. When I reached my starting box and found the ‘zero’ on the battery I got a little scared”.
The Ferrari started very well, with Charles Leclerc who took the lead at the first corner. But not even the Monegasque was free 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 little taller than the others, which helped me to place in front, but not at the top. I thought I’d find myself eighth or ninth, but in the end I was the one with the least problems.”.
Leclerc also highlighted the rapid switching off of the traffic 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 on the back podium was interesting, with the Englishman confirming: “We were both (also meaning Antonelli, ed.) with the battery at 0“, and the Ferrari driver replied: “Hadjar too. I had 20% and I had more than you“.
