Mercedes duo expects 'more difficult' F1 starts

Mercedes titles rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are both expecting F1 starts to become “more difficult” as a result of the FIA’s latest clampdown on the getaway procedures.

In an effort to put more emphasis on driver skills, the sport’s governing body recently rubber-stamped a ban on team orders and radio communication before the cars line up on the grid.

These restrictions have been made with a view to making race starts more unpredictable and will be implemented from next month’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps onwards.

“It is good,” said Rosberg. “It is going to make it even more exciting, and will be even more in our hands to do a good start, as well as more difficult.

“That will throw in a lot of variables and it will be much more difficult to predict the outcome of the start. It's all good and hopefully I can use it to my advantage.”

While team-mate Hamilton also anticipates a higher number of botched attempts, the championship leader does not foresee any change in terms of approaching the starting procedure.

“It doesn't make a huge difference,” Hamilton said. “We still have the same responsibility, so it doesn't actually change anything.

“All it does is when you do the start from the grid, normally the team can calculate how much grip there is and how much torque delivery the engine is giving. So if you get too much torque, you get wheelspin. If you don’t get enough there is no wheelspin and it is a slow pull away.

“The team will see that and will tell you whether to put the torque up or down. Now we can't do that, and we can't ourselves do torque up and down. There will be such a differential between the first and real start that there will be a lot of people getting bad starts.”

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