The start of the Australian Grand Prix almost caused a spectacular accident not shown on television. Franco Colapinto had to perform an emergency maneuver to avoid Liam Lawson’s car, which was stationary on the grid.
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The start of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix almost turned into a disaster. While the images broadcast on television showed a relatively clean start, a particularly dangerous situation occurred just seconds after the lights went out.
Argentine driver Franco Colapinto revealed after the race that he narrowly escaped a collision with Liam Lawson, whose car remained almost stationary on the grid at the start. Obscured by the cars around him, Colapinto only realized the problem at the very last moment. He then had to make a sharp swerve to the right to avoid impact with the Racing Bulls car.
According to him, the video footage clearly shows how risky the situation was: “I almost had a huge accident with Liam when he got stuck on the grid, and I was really lucky to get through the first lap.”
A start disrupted by new procedures
This incident occurs in a specific context, as the Formula 1 starting procedure was modified before the start of the 2026 season.
These new rules notably include a period of about five seconds allowing teams and drivers to rev up the turbo before the lights go out. The goal is to ensure better preparation of the hybrid engines at the start.
But in this specific case, the lights went out almost immediately after being turned on, which surprised some drivers. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc also described this start as particularly unexpected. This situation may have contributed to Lawson’s poor start, creating a potential danger for the drivers arriving behind him at full speed.
An avoidance maneuver at the limit
Caught by surprise, Colapinto had to react instinctively to avoid the collision. Without clear visibility of the stationary car, the avoidance maneuver came down to a few centimeters.
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“I was really lucky. We know that many things can happen with these new cars, but the video shows it was very dangerous.”
During this maneuver, the Argentine driver even slightly touched the wall with the right rear of his car. Fortunately, this contact did not cause major damage. However, the incident was not shown in the television replays of the start, which explains why it went largely unnoticed by spectators.
A complicated race for Colapinto
After narrowly avoiding the accident, Colapinto’s race did not go as hoped. The driver notably received a stop-and-go penalty after a member of his team touched the car when the fifteen-second signal had already been given on the grid.
This penalty significantly compromised his chances of moving up the standings. At the finish, the Argentine driver finally finished in 14th place, just behind Lawson, who was classified 13th.
Beyond this spectacular incident, Colapinto acknowledges that his team lacked performance throughout the weekend in Melbourne.
“I touched the wall with the right rear, but generally we lacked pace all weekend. We were really hoping for much better after Bahrain. In the end, it was just a very difficult afternoon.”
Despite everything, the driver can at least be satisfied with having avoided an accident that could have had much more serious consequences right from the start of the race.
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