After two races of the new season that promise another battle between Mercedes and Ferrari, with Red Bull yet to show their real form, Formula One had a feelgood factor after Bahrain. This had not been the case going into the grand prix.
The dearth of overtaking in the first race in Melbourne prompted the FIA to hold an urgent meeting at the Sakhir circuit with technical directors to discuss changes for 2019 to improve passing.
Inevitably there was no agreement by the teams – and then Bahrain promptly returned 42 overtaking moves compared with five in Australia. Panic over but in reality the problem has not gone away. Sunday’s race in China will be more informative about whether overtaking this season will be any easier than last but every indication is that it will not.
Fixing it for 2019 is highly unlikely since changes for next season have to be confirmed by the FIA by 30 April. But for F1’s sporting director Ross Brawn and his new regulations for 2021, this is as important an issue as engines and revenue distribution. For many fans who tune in only on a Sunday afternoon, it is probably the single biggest issue facing F1.
Lewis Hamilton caught the eye in Bahrain with his superb move, passing three cars into turn one. There were shades of the 1991 US GP at Phoenix in the manoeuvre. Then, Alain Prost in fourth beautifully slipstreamed Nelson Piquet, tucked in behind him and dived up the inside.
He overtook Jean Alesi in the process and having been two abreast through turn five with Piquet, came out on top in second place. Prost and Hamilton’s passes displayed thrilling racing but the number of moves in Bahrain flattered to deceive.
The concern after Albert Park was mystifying: the circuit is notoriously difficult to pass on and there was no surprise in the paddock that the race merely reinforced the fact. But the decision to try to implement changes for 2019 reflects a greater concern. At Bahrain, with varying tyre strategies across the field, there always would be more overtaking and of course most manoeuvres were DRS-aided. The numbers were up but the real issue remains: the high-downforce aero regulations are simply not conducive to passing.
Brawn and his team, including the F1 chief technical officer, Pat Symonds, have identified the area to be addressed.
“If you look at the front wings we have now, they are massively complex,” Brawn said. “The flow regime around the wing is incredibly complex, which makes it very sensitive to the car in front.
“So we simplify the front wings, then arguably you could say you’re going to go back in the right direction. Everything we have done in the last few years has gone in the wrong direction.”
This is a blunt appraisal of what has seemed blindingly obvious for so long – the complicated aero is making following closely too difficult with the inevitable adverse effect on overtaking.
The last regulation change sought to improve racing by making the cars faster. The latter part of which has been a success but as for the spectacle? Well, as Daniel Ricciardo pointed out last week: “It’s impressive but the faster we go, the harder it’s going to be to overtake and the harder it’s going to be to follow close,” he said. “So do we want to see cars doing 1min 22sec as opposed to 1:25 but not being able to race on Sunday? Or do you want to see slower cars but they can race?”
The latter seems to be far more popular with the broad audience F1 needs to reach and Brawn is working to find a compromise between speed and driveability that in the long term would do away with the need for the artificial aid of DRS.
Much was made after the superb opening round of the IndyCar season at St Petersburg, with focus largely on the new low-downforce aero on the cars, which had contributed to a record 366 passes.
It is not a clearcut comparison to F1. IndyCar is a single-make series and calculates overtakes differently, including passes made on the first lap, those on lapped cars and said cars unlapping themselves.
Nonetheless Indy were right to celebrate their spectacle, which only reinforced the fact downforce and dirty air are fundamental factors in limiting overtaking.
Brawn’s vision, outlined to the teams in Bahrain, included the intent to “make cars more raceable to increase overtaking opportunities”. To achieve that the aero issue will have to be addressed and crucially have the teams on board. This weekend in China will demonstrate how far he has to go.
Passing is possible in Shanghai but how closely evenly-matched cars can follow one another will also again be under scrutiny.
As for the short term, change looks unlikely. With no switch for 2019 there is no appetite in the teams for a new design for 2020 that would last only one season before the new regulations of 2021. Brawn’s plan is key but for the moment it remains just that – an optimistic vision of the future.
