'Starts now overly important', says Martin Brundle

Former F1 driver and TV pundit Martin Brundle believes the time when a world champion is decided by the quality of his starts alone may not be too far off.

Writing in his SkySports F1 column, Brundle criticized the overwhelming importance of the moment when the lights go green, and any subsequent advantage a driver may gain in the first few yards of a Grand Prix.

"I'm beginning to realise that the desire to make the drivers more responsible for getting these complex cars from the startline to the braking zone of turn one is having too much effect on the outcome of races," Brundle wrote.

"Back in the day we had a hydraulic clutch attached to a foot pedal where we could feel the relatively simple clutch bite and the springs go over centre.

"Similarly a physical throttle cable was a largely linear direct connection to the engine. We moderated the wheel spin by ourselves through experience and those binary controls, although it was still easy enough to bog down or light up the rear tyres.

"Now they have a single clutch lever on the steering wheel operating a micro switch which moves the clutch with no mechanical feedback.

"The fly-by-wire throttle will have some plateau zones in the mapping to help but with such prodigious torque available and game like controls it's easy to get it wrong now."

Indeed, in the recent past, many races have been won or lost by a driver's efficient or poor launch off the grid. At Monza, Lewis Hamilton clinched  pole position and stressed  pre-race the importance of the run-down to the first chicane.

Ultimately, the Mercedes bogged down when the lights went green, its driver swamped by several cars and losing at the outset almost all chance of success.

"Variable starts have always been a part of motor racing it's true to say," Brundle argued.

"But we didn't always have bullet-proof reliability, seamless gearboxes that never miss a shift, and cars so good that the drivers didn't make errors over the next two hours. Or, more pertinently, such refined aerodynamics which make overtaking extremely difficult.

"My point is that the starts are playing an overly important part in races, we lost Verstappen out of the mix in Singapore along with a smashed up Force India and numerous damaged cars. Starts might just decide who is world champion this year."

2016 Singapore Grand Prix - Driver ratings

REPORT: Rosberg takes title lead after Singapore thriller 

Breakfast with ... Bernd Maylander