Formula 1's managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn says that the sport's current overtaking problem can't be solved until 2021. At the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, there was a noticeable lack of wheel to wheel action between drivers for the second year in a row.
F1 introduced new aerodynamic regulations in 2017, which made the cars a lot faster. However, due to the increase in dirty air, the drivers found it hard to follow their competitors, which is only set to worsen as the teams develop their current aerodynamic designs.
But Brawn says that F1 must fix the issue properly, and will therefore introduce a scheme for 2021: "Think of how much wheel to wheel dicing we missed out on,” he said. “For the very first time we even had a third DRS zone specifically to increase the chances of overtaking.
"It's vital that the cars are capable of getting close to one another and racing wheel to wheel. We saw that with Hamilton and Vettel, Verstappen and Magnussen and again the Dutchman and Alonso and with Ricciardo and Raikkonen.
“Until we take a structured approach to the problem, we won't really make any progress," Brawn continued. "One of our aims, which we are looking at with the FIA and the teams is that, for 2021, we want to have cars that allow drivers to really fight one another on track.
“The FIA and F1 are carrying out an aerodynamic research programme with two car models, both in the wind tunnel and using CFD. We need to evolve a car design that achieves close to the level of performance we now see, but permits wheel to wheel action.”
At the next round in Bahrain, Liberty Media will present the blueprints for 2021, with the main focus being on the new engine regulations which are set to come into play. After Mercedes and Ferrari spoke out against Liberty's initial plans which were showcased last year, Brawn has called for the whole F1 community to come together.
“F1 fans want to see a better show and overtaking is the most exciting and spectacular element you can have on track,” he said. “The whole Formula 1 community must make an effort to satisfy this need because the fans are our biggest asset.”
Fergal Walsh
2
Replies (6)
Login to replyboudy
Posts: 1,168
But the third DRS zone didn't work ..... no sir this was one of the boring races...
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
A late solution to a pretty severe issue. Although overtaking quality has improved from 2017 and onward.
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
In this case maybe they should close this Mercedes advertising series and reopen it 2021.
Pauli
Posts: 140
It's not easy to fix because there is so many safety regulations stacked ontop of older once that make racing impossible that they need to carefully redesign cars from scratch to allow closer racing without causing safety issues. It is fairly easy to know what in general needs to happen but actually avoiding safety hazards is a lot work with different models.
RogerF1
Posts: 501
I am staggered that we are looking at three full seasons before they can introduce such changes. With the amount of money swimming around in F1 it’s not quick enough. So that suggests the 2017 reg changes on aero were being thought about in 2014? F1 teams redesign the body every year. Yes, it has to be radical to make a noticeable difference but a free reign on F1 teams to do something different would probably take 1 season. Poor.
Hombibi
Posts: 137
If I am correct this (albert park problem) was introduced last season with wider wings, and wider cars. If it was only introduced last year, how difficult is it to reduce wings for next season and make the tires less wide again? And if wings are reduced even further the situation could even improve beyond what we saw three years ago.. I don't see the necessity to wait until 2021, this is the pinnacle or motor sport isn't it?