'Do more': McLaren boss Andrea Stella's plea to F1 after shocking Albert Park near-miss

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has issued a plea to F1 brass to 'do more' to address safety concerns in the wake of a shocking near-miss in the Australian Grand Prix.

When the lights went out, the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson was slow to pull away from eighth on the grid and was almost collected by Alpine driver Franco Colapinto.

Colapinto, who had started 16th, was tucked in behind another car. When they swerved to avoid Lawson, the unsighted Argentine came within millimetres of what many believe would have resembled an airplane crash.

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A change in the start procedure was brought about by the removal of a small electric motor under the new-for-2026 regulations overhaul. However, teams had forecast potential start line issues for months, with reports Ferrari first flagged concerns with the FIA as far back as 2024.

Lawson's slow start was a direct result of the new regulations. Although the Kiwi's was the only significantly slow start in Melbourne, Stella said "the concern remains".

"There was a bit of a near-miss - there was a huge speed differential on the grid," he said per Motorsport.com.

"We can hope for the best, or we can just do something further to make sure we reduce this speed differential.

"This is a very technical matter. I don't think we should go too far into 'We should do this or we should do that'. My appeal is to say we should do more. Keep attention on the start because at some stage that will become a problem."

The new regulations mandated the removal of the MGU-K - a small yet powerful electric motor that converted heat energy into usable energy that could be stored in a battery and deployed. But it had a crucial secondary job, which was to spool up the turbo at the start.

Its removal means drivers must now rev the engine for up to 10 seconds to manually spool the turbo to ensure its power is available immediately. The new regulations also forbid the use of electrical power at speeds less than 50km/h.

It's likely Lawson did not spool up the turbo correctly - possibly exacerbated by how quickly the start lights went out - which means he was running purely on the combustion engine to get the car moving.

Stella also echoed concerns raised by world champion Lando Norris about another peculiarity brought about by the new regulations.

The option to manually deploy battery power also on occasion in Melbourne meant for massive closing speeds at the end of the long straights.

While some cars were 'super clipping', and charging their battery at the end of the straights, others were deploying battery power, which resulted in a speed differential of up to 50km/h.

Norris said it was an "accident waiting to happen", and Stella urged F1 not to rest on its laurels.

"To create this speed differential, this becomes quite unpredictable," he said.

"And even from this point of view, we should not be happy because nothing happened - we should always be on the front foot when it has to do with safety."

The F1 circus continues this weekend with the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai.