# Drifting vs. rolling when starting race

Imagine you are about to start a car race. You are on the grid, waiting for the green light. What should you do in order to optimize your start?

Some people would say that a drift start would be the best. Namely, pressing the clutch and then pressing the throttle, to suddenly let go the former and let the wheels start drifting before making the car move. This seems to be a good way to start - the wheels have been already spinning at a high speed, so when you stop pressing down the clutch you will not have to wait for the wheels to start spinning fast, as they've already been doing it for the last seconds. Ergo, the moment you let go the clutch, the wheels are already spinning and at a high speed, so the car will go out faster.

Others might argue that this is not the best way, because dynamic friction is always less than maximum static friction. So, if one could start in such a way that the force produced by the wheels is $mg\mu_{s}$ (i.e. starting with the wheels not sliding but rolling), it would generate a better start than if the wheels were already spinning to start sliding after letting to the clutch, because

$$mg\mu_s>mg\mu_k$$

where $m$ is the mass, $g$ the acceleration of gravity, $\mu_s$ the coefficient of maximum static friction, and $\mu_k$ the coefficient of kinetic friction.

Which option is the best and why?