Brawn: “Overtaking” is what F1 is missing

It is an understatement to say that the opening of the 2018 season of Formula 1 was stingy with overruns: only five maneuvers were accomplished on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne (Australia) on Sunday. A week earlier, the raceIndyCar in Saint Petersburg (Florida) offered an anthology of… 366 overruns (according to the organizers), all on an urban route!

The comparison is painful for F1, supposed to be the pinnacle of world motorsport. Ross Brawn, the Motor Sports director of Liberty Media, the new owner of the discipline, recognizes the current spectacle problem. “Overtaking is what’s missing. Until we have a structural approach to this problem, we will not make any progress. »

World champion in 2009 with his own team, Ross Brawn is looking to 2021 to improve the situation. “One of our objectives, in consultation with the FIA ​​and the teams, is to obtain single-seaters for the new 2021 regulations that allow drivers to really fight against each other on a circuit”, explains the Briton.

The former technical director of Ferrari has his little idea to revive the show. “The design of the cars must evolve, to allow side-by-side battles but while preserving the current level of performance”, he told the Reuters news agency. Some pilots did not hesitate to complain, like Max Verstappen (Red Bull: “If I was in front of my television on Sunday, I would have turned it off! »