Formula 1 must immediately make one rule change ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix after starting chaos

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The 2026 Australian Grand Prix would have been seen by many within Formula 1 as a great success, as the event marked the start of a new regulation set for the sport.

George Russell won the Australian Grand Prix from his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Ferrari might finally deliver on their pre-season promise as they attempt to win their first championship in 18 years.

However, there were some glaring issues that the FIA will be aware of that need to be addressed as quickly as possible.

Did Gabriel Bortoleto’s overtaking comments reveal a problem with new F1 regulations?

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It’s been suggested that Max Verstappen is secretly pushing for rule changes after his first taste of Formula 1’s new ruleset.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris called F1’s new racing ‘artificial’ after the sport’s official social media accounts boasted about the number of overtakes that took place.

However, Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto’s incredible near-miss off the grid highlighted an issue that the FIA must address before this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

READ MORE: George Russell lauds Franco Colapinto for ‘save of the season’ after Australian Grand Prix near-miss

Formula 1 must change battery recharge rules on the formation lap before the Chinese Grand Prix

It was clear when the five red lights went out at the start of the Australian Grand Prix that something had gone wrong on the formation lap.

Lawson and Colapinto were very lucky not to have a serious accident, while Verstappen complained of having no battery on the grid.

Speaking after the race, via Motorsport, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said: “First of all, it’s our responsibility to avoid finding ourselves in a situation like this.

“We were caught off guard by some limitations in how you can charge and discharge the battery during the formation lap.

“With the unusual behaviours the drivers have to adopt on a formation lap—acceleration, braking, acceleration, braking to warm up the brakes and tyres—we reached a point where we were no longer able to achieve the correct state of charge for the start.

“We had to recharge the battery during the first lap, which was obviously not pleasant.”

Essentially, drivers in Melbourne were unable to generate enough battery recharge on the formation lap to get off the grid properly due to also needing to warm up their tyres and brakes.

An aggressive driving style benefits the driver in warming the car up, but leaves the battery short of power, which was accentuated on a circuit like Melbourne, where recharge opportunities were limited.

Before a car reaches 50 km/h, use of the battery is prohibited, but after that initial launch, drivers can use whatever charge they’ve recovered; however, in this case, many drivers didn’t have that option.

READ MORE: Martin Brundle has already changed his mind about the 2026 F1 rules after the Australian Grand Prix

How can Formula 1 fix this battery recharge issue before the Chinese Grand Prix?

It’s believed that Formula 1 is going to meet with teams after the race in Shanghai to discuss any rule changes needed in time for the third race in Suzuka.

However, on safety grounds, an update might be needed this weekend so as not to rely on the incredible reflexes of the drivers in case another driver gets bogged down like Lawson.

A solution could be to increase the battery recharge limit by allowing drivers access to overtake mode on the formation lap, which creates the maximum amount of charge possible.

This would allow drivers the opportunity to warm up their brakes, tyres and recharge their batteries to avoid a repeat of what happened in Australia.

Norris was already warned about the potential for big collisions under the new rules, saying via The Race: “You can have a 30/40/50km/h speed [difference].

“When someone hits someone at that speed, you’re going to fly, you’re going to go over the fence, and you’re going to do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others. That’s a pretty horrible thing to think about.”

Nothing like this has happened yet, but Formula 1 knows it’s better to act preemptively rather than wait for something terrible to happen.