Overtaking nearly impossible in F1?
The Formula 1 2007 season is under the threat from the worst possible sleeping pill – no overtaking. Drivers were already stuck behind slower cars for several laps in testing, not being able to do anything about it. According to German Auto, motor und sport magazine, the blame falls on the 19000 rotations per minute limit imposed on the engines. The maximum difference between engines will be of only 20 hp, while the the top speed differences are estimated to be of only 6 km/h.
Driver’s comments about overtaking are devastating:
“Up from 4th gear, the engine performances are practically the same” says Red Bull Renault driver Mark Webber.
“Because of that it is practically impossible to get in the slipstream of the car in front so you could overtake.”
”You lack the kick to overtake, which you could get before from higher revs.” Ferrari’s Felipe Massa complains.
“To get better top speed now, you need to have a more aero efficient car.”
”You need to adjust the gear ratios so that you hit the rev limiter
as late as possible.” Sauber BMW’s Nick Heidfeld adds.
GP2 uses rev-limiters too, but they overtake much more often than in a regular F1 race. This desired `shoe` effect can’t be transferred to F1 because of two reasons:
1) F1 Drivers make fewer mistakes.
2) GP2 cars don’t have as much electronics which would fix drivers’ errors, for example traction control or [powerful] engine braking.
Source: Helsingin Sanomien F1 Blog (in Finnish)
Translation by Warwick, Wiz Kid.
Leave a Reply