Despite the overtaking fests that were the Chinese and Azerbaijan Grands Prix, concerned at the meagre 5 passes in Melbourne and the fact that overtaking was 50% down in 2017 compared to the previous year, a number of changes have been approved for next season.

Following a presentation made to the teams at the Bahrain Grand Prix - at which were against the idea - of proposals aimed at promoting closer racing and more overtaking, the Strategy Group, the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council yesterday approved a number of regulation changes for the 2019 season.

The changes, approved by e-vote, are as follows:

Simplified front wing, with a larger span, and low outwash potential

Simplified front brake duct with no winglets

Wider and deeper rear wing

Yesterday's vote follows an intense period of research into the FIA's initial proposals, which were made with the support of the F1 Commercial Rights Holder, conducted by a majority of the F1 teams.

These studies indicated the strong likelihood of a positive impact on racing and overtaking within F1 and as such have now been ratified for implementation in 2019.

The approved changes are separate to the ongoing work being undertaken in regard to defining Formula 1's regulations for 2021 and beyond.

In addition to the aerodynamic changes ratified yesterday, the FIA is continuing to evaluate a range of other measures aimed at encouraging closer racing and boosting overtaking in F1.

This comes in the wake of other changes announced for next season including an increase in the race fuel allowance, which, it is hoped, will allow drivers to race at full power for longer, and also the separation of driver weight from car weight in a bid to end the disadvantage of heavier drivers.

Yesterday (April 30) marked the deadline for such a move in terms of needing a majority vote, after that time unanimous agreement would have been required.

However, with Ferrari's veto still available the Italian team may yet make a bid to hijack the proposal though this would entail the Maranello outfit having to prove that the move was against its interests.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 01/05/2018 16:18

"It's not about overtaking per-se, it's about RACING (of which overtaking is a significant part).
At present, and largely as a result of aerodynamics, driving within less than 10m of another car leads to multiple issues: loss of downforce; poor cooling; tyre degradation and of course consequently: loss of braking ability; loss of cornering speed.

Those matters are bad enough, but are compounded by, and added to, by current-generation tyres which appear to have such small windows, it's near-impossible to see anything through them. Even when they do get "switched on" (are these tyres or toasters?) reliability and wear-rates would make Kwik-Fit's corporate eyes light-up.

As a result of this, drivers spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about making the tyres work\and\or last long enough, and very little time actually trying to race one another.

In short it's a double-whammy, and FIA (well Liberty, really) can do better than witter about "overtaking". Sort-out the potential for proper racing, and the overtakes become possible."

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2. Posted by TedS, 01/05/2018 15:46

"You want more passing. Sure it is really is simple. Less downforce and longer braking zones.

You want the fastest cars, you get complex active-adaptive areo, huge budgets and no passing.

All that said, F1 has never really had the passing people think they remember. There are a handful of really awesome laps, passes or attempts but by in large the races haven't changed all that much."

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3. Posted by NS Biker, 01/05/2018 13:39

"Will have to side with FormerF1Fan on this one.
How can making the wings bigger, improve things, when a big part of the mess is that the last major aero rule change ..... made the wings bigger than they were previously.?
Sorry, it looks like a gambler sitting at the table doubling up on his bet because he has been loosing.

"

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4. Posted by Stitch431, 01/05/2018 12:00

"This is more than I hoped for, as we have all been praying for ways to improve overtaking, if possible even without the need for a super Mario cart DRS system, and maybe this is the first step into the right direction. Reading the posts below, I have the feeling a couple of team technicians are creating fake news as it was general consent in the last year and a half, that the technique of the cars has to be brought back to the state where overtaking and close racing are possible. Nobody wants to watch a parade of single cars for two hours ..."

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5. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 01/05/2018 10:37

"Sounds to me we are going back to the past, give all teams a photo of the JPS Lotus from 1986 and tell them thats the aero package they have to work with."

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6. Posted by Insane Reindeer, 01/05/2018 10:17

"I give up. I don't understand when F1 became a sport dedicated to by the number of overtakes that a race had. I mean I must be really stupid but I always thought that the whole point of an F1 race was to cover a set distance in the quickest time possible. You have things like qualifying that goes towards this aim and a rule book that, attempts, to say what the cars must be like. The teams build their cars, hire some people to drive them and away you go! Well. Unless the teams are lapping faster* in preseason testing next year then they did this year then I will be cancelling my TV package, cancelling my online subscriptions and giving up on F1 after 36 years.

I don't want to see F1 turned in to the "World Championship of Indy Car". I want speed. Proper mind bending "how the hell did he lap that fast?" speed.

*The gap would have to be at least as big as it was this year compared to last year: (1 minute 18.634 seconds) - (1 minute 17.182 seconds) = 1.452 seconds"

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7. Posted by FormerF1Fan, 01/05/2018 9:01

"Give past experience, I can confidently say that anything that the FIA does to improve overtaking, including these proposals, will immediately cause the opposite to happen. Nothing the learned FIA has proposed in recent years comes even close to what I've been saying, unfortunately for years now: draw lots for starting grid place. Rubbish, I hear you say. Yes of course, but have the FIA got anything better? And I bet our absent (I mean mentally, not physically) America landlords would salivate at the idea... "

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Changes approved for 2019 in bid to improve overtaking

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