After the practice starts during winter testing in Bahrain proved rather problematic for several Formula 1 outfits, the issue quickly sparked a political debate in the paddock.
Many teams wanted more time during the starting procedure to spool their turbochargers and build up the revs, but Ferrari was not keen on that idea as its smaller turbo gave the Scuderia a competitive advantage off the line.
The eventual compromise was the so-called pre-start procedure, a five-second warning with blue flashing lights on the grid once all cars have lined up following the formation lap.
After its introduction, Fred Vasseur
