01/06/2007
NEWS STORY
It wasn't that long ago that Max Mosley was telling race fans that what really excited them about Formula One was strategy, claiming that overtaking had never been that important and that talk of overtaking in the 'good old days' was mainly based on myth.
Pitpass has always argued that while fans cannot expect non-stop overtaking and duelling, with every race resembling Dijon 1979, there at least has to be the possibility of one car making a move on another. However, the aerodynamic rules, not to mention the new points system, make this all but impossible.
Having realised that he got it wrong and that fans do prefer overtaking to strategy, Mosley insists that this is what the sport should be concentrating on as it looks to the future.
According to Italy's Autosprint magazine, Mosley said: "At the moment overtaking is difficult. We must devise a way to make it easier and to make sure that the car trailing is faster than the one preceding it, as used to happen in the '60s. That way it would be possible to overtake."
One could point out that the easiest way to resolve the situation has been clearly displayed on message boards and forums for many years, reduce aerodynamic grip, increase mechanical grip, do away with the diffusers, or at least drastically reduce their size and race on tracks that at least offer the opportunity to overtake.
Worryingly, as he looks to the future, Mosley doesn't rule out some of the more revolutionary ideas being forward, including Flavio Briatore's suggestion that F1 should follow the GP2 format, holding Grands Prix over two heats with a reversed grid in the second race, and whatever.
"I listen," he said, "to decide is a different thing. A matter like that of GPs in two heats would require a long procedure. From 2008 the Concorde Agreement ends and the decisions are down to the World Council.
"Changing the race format is a marketing choice," he admitted, "and people like Briatore are experts in that. But my opinion is that if we have cars and circuits that improve overtaking, then there won't be a need to change the format."
The idea of Grands Prix being split into two heats is not popular with fans, and such a move would be the result of many other similar moves in recent years, to make F1 more TV friendly.
F1 has been TV friendly in the past and can be again, it's merely a case of re-introducing racing and doing away with the gimmicks.