77ec381b5af34993d67dfe009b6e917625795335

Front row will keep practice start advantage

13:15, 09 Oct 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Charlie Whiting has confirmed that there will be no rule changes in the near future to address the advantage of drivers on the front row of the grid from performing practice starts on the formation lap.

Those at the very front of the grid are able to navigate a loophole in the rules which prevents drivers from performing practice starts on the grid by forcing them to stay below the pit lane speed limit on the formation lap until they pass the pole position grid slot.

This means that those at the very front of the grid are able to perform a practice start and not reach the speed limit until after they have passed the first place grid slot, giving them an advantage over the rest of the field due to the extra practice.

Kevin Magnussen had asked his team at the Russian Grand Prix on the team radio if he could perform a practice start from P5 on the grid but was told he couldn't due to the lower pit lane speed limit in Sochi.

"Kevin we don’t think you can do that here because the speed limit’s 60kph here, we think you’d be well over that speed before the line."

Charlie Whiting told RaceFans that there would be no rule implemented to stop those on the front row from being able to do so, adding that it was just another perk of starting at the front of the field.

“They get an advantage from being at the front anyway. So it’s another perk of being on pole position, I would say.

“You can see on the lights on their (onboard) camera when they’ve got their pit limiter engaged, you’ll see every car except the front two, every time. They’ve all got their pit limiter engaged, you see the mauve light and then the front two don’t.”