Charles Leclerc makes shock revelation over lightning Australian GP start

Charles Leclerc has denied that he enjoyed a perfect start to the Australian Grand Prix despite his rapid ascent up the order.

The Ferrari driver started the race from fourth on the grid, but launched off the line to take the lead into the opening corner.

The Italian squad's fast starts had been noted during pre-season testing from Bahrain, and the potential was realised when the lights went out in Melbourne.

But when asked if it was a near-perfect start, Leclerc told media including RacingNews365: “Not at all, not at all. 

“I mean, it looked from outside, but I think we all had the same problem for some reason, so this is something we’ve got to review.

“My battery was very, very low for some reason, probably a bit higher than them, which helped me to get in the front, but very sub-optimal anyway.”

Multiple drivers complained about having no energy deployment available off the line, with Laurent Mekies explaining his Red Bull entries had no battery due to the acceleration and braking methods used on the formation lap.

Having soared to the head of the pack at the first corner, Leclerc revealed he originally feared he was going to drop down the order.

“I thought I would end up P8, P9, but then I started and I saw everybody had issues and I had the one with the least issues, which at the end is what counts. But there’s a lot of margin to improve those starts,” he said.

“It was very sub-optimal, I think, for everybody. 

“We kind of expected a messy start and then I think on top of that as well we are such on a fine line before getting everything right on the PUs, and the lights off were very, very, very quick.

“It surprised everybody on top of that and made it even more critical. So it was kind of crazy.”