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The number of overtakes has halved in the first half of the season

Published on 17 Aug 2017 12:47
6
By: Fergal Walsh

Formula 1 has had a lot of praise this season after Ferrari and Mercedes emerged from pre-season testing locked in a battle that appears to be heading to the final round in Abu Dhabi. Despite the added excitement of two teams going head to head, statistics show that there has been much less overtaking this season compared to last year.

Many expected that overtaking would take a hit in 2017, as the new regulations create a lot more turbulent air. In races such as Hungary, it was clearly apparent that some cars found it close to impossible to get by the car in front.

In 2016, a total of 553 overtakes were made after the first eleven races of the season. However, after the first eleven of 2017, only 244 have been made, less than half the figure of 2016. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw the most hectic race this year, with 59 overtakes being made. In contrast, Russia only contained 1 manoeuvre.

Speaking about overtaking, Force India's Sergio Perez said: "It's a lot more difficult to pass someone this season than in previous years because the braking zones are much shorter, the cars have much more downforce and the tyres wear less. Last year you had to be one and a half seconds faster than the car ahead, this year you have to be two."

Fergal Walsh

F1 News Sergio Perez Force India Ferrari Mercedes

Replies (6)

Barron

Posts: 625
This is not good news, however you can't promote a series on the back of 'overtaking' alone. There are so many variables involved not just downforce & braking capability. The driver is a huge variable and I believe that there are those drivers on the grid in 2017 who know how to do it without being 2secs a lap faster. Randomly I would name Lewis, Fernando, Max & Daniel Ric as the best overtakers out there, there may be a couple more (Hulk?) but I can't think of them. All the others either don't have the skills or are simply complacent.
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- Aug 17 2017 - 14:09
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
This is to be expected, it is after all a new era with new regulations, it was bound to happen. The problem is if it persists.
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- Aug 17 2017 - 17:37
mbmwe36

Posts: 533
I'm fine with it, because it seems like the number of DRS overtakes where it's just a matter of driving by has decreased.
Without having any statistics to back it up, it seems like the number of quality overtakes has gone up, which is a tradeoff I'll take any day.
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- Aug 17 2017 - 19:22
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I agree, DRS has definitely become more balanced.
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  Aug 17 2017 - 19:38
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I like natural overtakes, but I gotta say the racing this year has been better on good races, and terrible on the rest. I am a fan of the bigger cars, bigger tires. Not a fan of the low quality racing we've had on most races. But we all knew this would happen. Drivers, engineers, team managers... so I don't even know what to expect anymore.
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  Aug 17 2017 - 22:14
Squirrel10

Posts: 36
Plus the cars are considerably wider, and a lot of tracks quite narrow anyway
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- Aug 17 2017 - 19:52