With Formula 1’s next race now the Monaco Grand Prix, expect the sport’s supposed problems with overtaking in 2023 to come very much to the fore.
The streets of Monte Carlo are motor racing’s most famous. Watching a car on low fuel dart between the barriers, never more than millimetres from disaster, is one of sport’s great spectacles.
But that’s a Saturday thing. Come Sunday and Monaco has a tendency to serve up sedate races, at least in the modern era.
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It’s not ordinarily such a problem when you know the next circuit will allow the drivers to engage in combat again, but there’s a sense that the 2023-generation cars just aren’t doing the business for close racing.
Is it a rules thing? Is it a circuit thing? Or is it a bit of a beat-up that relies on dominance at the front of the field masking better action at the back?
These questions will exercise F1 minds for the next few weeks at least.
ASTON MARTIN TECH BOSS DENIES OVERTAKING PROBLEMS IN 2023
Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows isn’t convinced by driver protestations that overtaking has become more difficult in 2023.
The season to date has been characterised by several processional grands prix or events that have had long stints lacking action.
While Red Bull Racing’s domination at the front of the field has certainly played a role in muting some paddock excitement, the drivers have also voiced concerns that the cars have become more difficult to race this year.
The 2022 regulatory overhaul was supposed to facilitate closer racing by cleaning up the aerodynamic wake produced by the car. Less wake means pursuing cars can follow more closely without having their aero performance disturbed.
But it’s been theorised that a year’s worth of downforce added to the cars has seen some of last year’s gains unpicked — at least according to the drivers, in particular Grand Prix Drivers Association director George Russell.
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But Fallows, whose name is on Aston Martin’s precedent-shattering 2023 car, says he’s yet to see any evidence of the drivers’ claims.
“I’ve heard the conversations going on, but I haven’t seen any data so far that sort of says that it’s harder to overtake,” he said, per RacingNews365. “The drivers have their own opinions, and I think we’ve seen people running the cars in slightly different specifications from each other, which does clearly make a difference.
“We are a few races in now, but it might even be a bit early to tell that as well.”
Fallows suggested the perception of poorer raceability could be down to the teams better understanding how to get the most from their new cars at particular tracks.
“There are definitely circuit-dependent characteristics,” he said. “Monaco is an extreme example, but we know that there are circuits where we have to get the maximum amount out of the car in qualifying because there is a limited opportunity to overtake in the race.
“That is going to carry on for all the circuits this year, there’ll always be some which are easier to overtake and some which aren’t.”
TOST: DE VRIES NEEDS THREE YEARS TO PROVE HIMSELF
Nyck de Vries has been given a confidence boost by team principal Franz Tost, who says any judgment of the Dutchman’s F1 potential must be withheld until at least his third season.
De Vries has had a difficult start to life as a full-time F1 driver this season and has reportedly been told by Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko that he could be axed from AlphaTauri if he doesn’t improve by the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
The reported ultimatum has sparked rumours Daniel Ricciardo could end up in the mix to replace him if the axe were to swing.
But Tost has been steadfast in his defence of the besieged 28-year-old, declaring that it’s too early to judge his suitability for the sport.
“As I always say, if a rookie is coming to Formula 1, he needs minimum three years to understand what‘s going on here,” he said, per Autosport.
De Vries has been trounced by teammate Yuki Tsunoda all year and has also made a series of clumsy mistakes resulting in crashes, including a couple in Azerbaijan and a first-lap rear-ending of Lando Norris in Miami.
Tost, however, isn’t concerned about rookies smashing up their cars, noting that even some of the greats had to shake off similar reputations.
“There‘s, as I always say, a learning process and a crash period,” he said at the start of the month. ”Because if the drivers don’t crash, they don’t know the limit.
“This is a credit you must give them, otherwise it doesn‘t work.
“And there was no driver not crashing. I remember that Sebastian (Vettel) in the first races came back the first lap most often without the nose. That‘s part of the game.”
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De Vries’s future in F1 will no doubt remain a hot topic at the next race in Monaco regardless, not least because Tost is stepping down as AlphaTauri team principal at the end of the year.
STEINER REVEALS HOW HIS LIFE HAS CHANGED AFTER DRIVE TO SURVIVE
Guenther Steiner says he has to be more picky about appearing in public to avoid overexcited fans owing to his Drive to Survive fame.
Haas team principal Steiner fast established himself as a cult favourite F1 personality following the first season of the Netflix docudrama for his plain speaking and penchant for swearing.
But popularity comes with its down sides, and Steiner said he had to be more thoughtful about his privacy when in public, particularly on grand prix weekends.
“To be honest, it’s just when you are around [and] people recognise you,” he told ESPN when asked how his life had changed. “It’s a little bit more when you go out, you need to think where you go and where you hang out, because on the race weekend going to certain restaurants is not a good idea, because you will not be left in peace.”
But Steiner sees it as part of his duty to the sport to keep the fans engaged.
“I think we have to give back to the fans if they like it,” he said. “I cannot be like now, ‘Oh, I don’t do anything’ because obviously they come to me because they like something they have seen.
“I was not looking for this thing, I didn’t expect it to come, but it comes, and you just adjust,”
Asked why he thought he was so well liked among F1 fans, he said it was because he was perhaps unusually honest for a team boss in the F1 paddock.
“I think it’s just I say a lot what I think,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I have no filter, but I think if I think it, I can say it. And I should say it instead of going around the houses to deliver a message.
“Over the years I just let people know what I think if they like it or not.
“I don’t want to offend anybody, I never start by trying to offend somebody, and you have to accept that some people don’t like this. I’m okay with that.”
