Jolyon Palmer thinks McLaren have ‘found something’ after seeing Oscar Piastri’s start at F1 testing

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Jolyon Palmer thinks McLaren have now found a way to improve their race starts after watching Oscar Piastri on the final day of the 2026 Bahrain pre-season test on Friday.

Race starts have been a key point of contention throughout testing this season. The 2026 F1 regulations removing the MGU-H from the engine formulae has forced teams to adapt their protocols to avoid wasting their energy store to spool up the turbo and avoid lag off the line.

Some teams have to rev their engines for at least 10 seconds while staying in low gears prior to practising their race starts. The issue has even seen Piastri suggest race starts in 2026 is a “recipe for disaster”, and McLaren team boss Andrea Stella urged F1 to explore late tweaks.

F1 and the FIA agreed to trial a longer starting procedure at the F1 Commission meeting this Wednesday, which has since led to fewer irregular launches in the collective practice race starts. But Ferrari and their engine customer teams have often seemed in a different league.

Jolyon Palmer thinks McLaren have improved their race starts after watching Oscar Piastri

David Croft has likened Ferrari’s 2026 F1 car to a “rocket launcher” after he watched Lewis Hamilton’s practice starts at the second Bahrain test. Haas driver Esteban Ocon has also had some of the best launches off the grid in the collective starts in his Ferrari-engined VF-26.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and aero regulations

But Palmer thinks McLaren have now finally begun to find a way to improve their race starts, as Piastri had one of the better launches amid the collective practice on Friday morning. His start seemed quite similar to Ocon’s, and did look better than Isack Hadjar’s in the Red Bull.

Palmer noted on the F1 world feed (20/02, 11:01): “They’ve found something, haven’t they, McLaren? It was not miles away from Ocon’s that time around, and I would say it was a little better than Hadjar’s. Are they figuring it out now? It seems like that gap is way down.”

Esteban Ocon has had some of the fastest practice starts at F1 testing in Bahrain

Haas driver Ocon lined up in front of McLaren’s Piastri and new Red Bull racer Hadjar on the grid for the collective practice race start at the end of the last morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Ocon and Piastri both got away cleanly, but Hadjar initially bogged down a little.

Piastri’s practice start was far more encouraging for McLaren than the Australian and Lando Norris’ previous efforts across the two weeks of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Piastri being able to stay with Ocon will have especially pleased McLaren after his rapid starts this week.

Ocon and Hamilton’s practice starts were very evenly matched on Thursday, with the Ferrari engine not as prone to having turbo lag like Mercedes, Red Bull, Audi and Honda’s. Ferrari’s 2026 F1 engine has a smaller turbo, so is less affected by F1 removing the MGU-H this year.