Race starts under F1’s new-for-2026 regulations have been a hot topic across the opening few rounds of the campaign, with a greater variety in rapid, average and poor getaways adding to the drama on the first lap of a Grand Prix.
After the Australian, Chinese, Japanese and Miami Grand Prix weekends, F1.com digs into the data to see who the early winners and losers are – our data showing some huge differences between the best and worst performers…
Why are race starts different in 2026?
Before looking at the numbers, it is worth a re-cap on how race starts have changed in 2026, with F1.com technical expert Mark Hughes explaining in a pre-season feature what the drivers are now facing when they line up on the grid.
“Because of the way the new cars’ power units are configured, the sequence of actions performed by the drivers as they approach the grid, wait for the start and then accelerate away has become a little different,” he wrote.
“Without the previous MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat) electrical motor to help quickly spin the turbo up to speed, the Turbocharger – which delivers its maximum boost when running at around 100,000rpm – is now relying totally on the energy of the exhaust gases.
“The higher the engine is being revved, the faster the exhausts flow, and the faster the turbo spins. When the turbo is not running with maximum boost pressure, there will be a delay between pressing the throttle and getting the full power delivery being requested.
“This is turbo lag – a phenomenon which wasn’t really present in the 2014-25 cars because the MGU-H could be used to keep the turbo spinning, or to re-accelerate it before the driver needed to request more power to ensure there was enough boost.
“In order to have the ICE’s (Internal Combustion Engine’s) full power available in the getaway off the line and into the first corner, the turbo needs to be already spinning at full speed as the gantry lights go off. However, it takes some time of revving the engine to get the turbo up to speed ready for instant lag-free full deployment.
“The challenge for drivers will be to balance the engine revs – alongside the time needed to get the turbo up to speed – and then to hold the target revs intended to match the release of the clutch for the best start performance.”
The race start data we gathered
To find out how each driver and team has been performing in this area so far, our data team put together two datasets: ‘official’ and ‘curated’.
The official list considered DNS (Did Not Start) drivers as published on the final starting grid, meaning, for example, when McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris hit technical trouble and did not take their P5 and P6 grid slots in China, the drivers behind were shown as gaining two positions (but making zero overtakes) on their first laps.
The curated list completely removed the DNS drivers and created an adjusted starting order, whereby the drivers behind were shuffled up to fill any gaps – meaning they did not gain any ‘ghost’ positions.
For the purposes of this feature, and to provide better clarity, we have used the curated data.
Who has gained the most places?
Two teams stand out above the rest at this stage of the season, with Williams and Ferrari gaining an impressive 22 and 21 places respectively on first laps between Australia and Miami.
Individually, Charles Leclerc has made up the most places with 12 spots gained, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon on 11 apiece, Haas’ Esteban Ocon on 10 and team mate Lewis Hamilton on nine.
Ferrari’s decision to fit a smaller turbocharger – sacrificing outright engine power in order to spool up their turbo quicker, and in theory make quicker starts – sparked plenty of paddock chatter, and the move appears to be paying off.
As for Williams, after finishing fifth in last year’s Teams’ Championship, an overweight and under-performing car means Sainz and Albon have often started toward the back of the grid – the flipside being a chance to gain more ground on first laps.
That pattern extends to Aston Martin, who have struggled with new power unit partner Honda. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are using their experience – and taking advantage of drama around them – to give the team the third-best total.
Who has lost the most places?
Moving on to most places lost, there are three clear losing teams in Audi, Red Bull and Mercedes, who have dropped 34, 30 and 24 positions respectively over the first four rounds.
Remarkably, 33 of Audi’s losses come from Nico Hulkenberg, with 12 of those due to an early front wing change at the Miami International Autodrome, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (hurt by his Lap 1 spin last Sunday) and championship-leading Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli are both on -20 positions.
Of the 22-strong field, however, Antonelli is the only driver to lose places in every race so far, be that a Sprint or Grand Prix, logging a whopping -5 in Australia, -6 in the China Sprint and -5 again in Japan.
“We’re not doing a good enough job in giving [the drivers] a tool in their hands, whether it’s clutch or the grip estimates,” Wolff admitted post-race in Miami. “We just have to dig even deeper to try to understand how we can fix that, because the gaps [to Mercedes’ rivals] are not big enough to cruise into the sunset, and therefore you can’t be missing starts.”
With another sizeable break before the Canadian Grand Prix, plenty of drivers and teams will no doubt be working hard to make progress in what has become a key 2026 battleground…
.webp?ssl=1 "Funniest moment, best radio message and much more – F1’s 2025 alternative awards")
