Tombazis Details FIA Miami Start System for F1 Montreal
F1 Montreal gets a new reference point in Miami: the FIA is debuting a low power start detection system to stop dangerously slow getaways. The change arrives with a warning to teams tempted to exploit it, and it is being introduced as a safety measure before race day.
Miami Start Sensors
The system uses sensors to monitor acceleration off the line. If a car drops below a critical threshold, it automatically releases additional power from the MGU-K, while warning lights alert following drivers that the trigger has been activated.
Nikolas Tombazis said the FIA was worried that extremely slow starts could become more common because of turbo lag. “We were concerned about turbo lag, that extremely slow starts could become more frequent,” he said. He added, “This is purely a safety feature,” and made clear the goal was not to improve launches for anyone.
Lawson And Colapinto
The push follows several incidents this season, including a near-miss involving Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson in Australia. Tombazis said, “We had the Lawson start in Australia, which was an example of what can go wrong. And clearly, we wanted to avoid that.” He also 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.”
The FIA also issued a warning to teams not to treat the new tool as an advantage to chase. “We have made it clear that this is primarily not intended to be a mechanism that could tempt people to do this intentionally,” Tombazis said. That leaves the system aimed at one narrow problem: preventing the kind of stall that creates danger between cars at the start.
Leclerc And Monchaux
Charles Leclerc said the change will not affect Ferrari’s advantage at the start. “The change to the starts won't affect our advantage at the start and the excellent starts we've had so far,” he said. He added, “It will only help those who get off to a very bad start, so as to avoid creating dangerous stalls between the cars.”
Jan Monchaux said he was uneasy ahead of race day because the software had not been tested as thoroughly as it should have been. “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.”
The new start detection system is part of a broader Miami rollout that also includes changes to energy management, with telemetry set to be scrutinised in every case. For teams, that means the start procedure is no longer just about reaction time; it is also about staying clear of a system built to intervene when launch speed drops too far.
