FIA warns start ’cheats’ as new system debuts in Miami

The FIA will closely monitor teams for potential exploitation of a new start safety system debuting in Miami, as part of wider rule tweaks for the troubled 2026 regulations.

Alongside changes to energy management, the governing body is introducing a system to prevent dangerously slow getaways.

The move follows several incidents this season, including a near-miss involving Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson in Australia.

"We were concerned about turbo lag, that extremely slow starts could become more frequent," said FIA technical chief Nikolas Tombazis.

"We had the Lawson start in Australia, which was an example of what can go wrong. And clearly, we wanted to avoid that."

The new ’low power start detection system’ uses sensors to monitor acceleration off the line. If a car falls below a critical threshold, the system automatically releases additional power from the MGU-K, while warning lights alert following drivers.

But the FIA has already issued a warning to teams tempted to exploit it.

"This is purely a safety feature," Tombazis said.

"What the system would do is turn a disastrous start into a bad start. It wouldn’t turn a bad start into a good one."

He confirmed that telemetry will be scrutinised in every case.

"We have made it clear that this is primarily not intended to be a mechanism that could tempt people to do this intentionally."

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc downplayed any impact on his team’s strong starts so far.

"The change to the starts won’t affect our advantage at the start and the excellent starts we’ve had so far," he said.

"It will only help those who get off to a very bad start, so as to avoid creating dangerous stalls between the cars."

Meanwhile, FIA official Jan Monchaux admitted concerns about the reliability of the new software that will regulate the broader energy management changes from Miami.

"I will still have an uneasy feeling until race day because the software we had to produce hasn’t been tested as thoroughly as we would have liked," he said.

"Something unforeseen could happen that we don’t want."