Mercedes had shown few weaknesses at the start of the season but without a doubt, its race-start performance has been one of them. On several occasions, particularly with Kimi Antonelli, the team had lost positions when the lights went out, to the extent that prior to Canada, it had never managed to lead at the end of the first lap despite having secured all the pole positions.
This was an issue that had to be resolved, because starting at the front only to be immediately swallowed up by the pack, creating an uphill struggle after just a few metres, was certainly not the ideal scenario. The size of the turbo played a part, but it wasn’t the only cause: McLaren, which uses the same power unit, had on several occasions managed to get off the line with purpose.
