Oscar Piastri has insisted F1's race starts need to be addressed after issues were uncovered during pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Throughout the week of testing, various drivers have commented on the difficulty they are having with the race start procedure with the new power units.
Due to the removal of the MGU-H component, the turbo now needs another source to spin up. But under the current specification, it can take up to 10 seconds for the drivers running at high engine revs to get it into an optimal position.
It could prove particularly tricky for competitors who form up at the back of the grid, who have less time than those at the front to prepare for the start.
During the final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, a race start procedure was carried out after the chequered flag, in which some drivers pulled away and others - including Piastri - remained stationary.
However, Piastri asserted the botched situation was not directly related to the power units.
“The start today was just a mix-up in instructions,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.
“I got told to wait until whoever was in front of me had gone, and then do my own launch and not go to the lights.
“Some other people had different ideas, so that was nothing to do with the power units.”
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Piastri issues safety plea but confident over solution
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has already called on the FIA to implement measures to address various concerns, including race starts.
His call was mirrored by Piastri who is expecting talks on potential fixes to run right up to the opening round in Melbourne.
“Starts need to be addressed,” he said. “As we’ve all seen, it’s a pretty complicated process now to have a safe start, let alone a competitive one.
“It’s something that we’ll talk about between now and Melbourne, I’m sure, and there are plenty of topics to address.
“The extra testing time has definitely been necessary for just the systems. From a performance point of view, you don’t really need it.
“But there’s so many things just from a borderline safety point of view that need to be figured out on track that do need addressing.”
With just three days of testing left ahead of the season-opening round, Piastri expressed confidence that a solution will be found.
“Everyone is going to need different things for the start,” he said. “To be completely honest, I'm not sure anyone knows what we need.
“We probably have got rough ideas, I'm sure we'll find a way to do a proper start.
“It's just that the difference between a good and bad start last year was you got a bit of wheel spin or you had a bad reaction time.
“Whereas this year it could be, effectively, like an F2 race, where you almost go into anti-stall or something.
“You're not just losing five meters or so, you could be losing six or seven spots if it goes wrong.”
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