Boullier doubts car changes will spoil the racing

2017 Australian Grand Prix

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McLaren racing director Eric Boullier doubts F1’s new regulations will be a serious hindrance to overtaking.

Several drivers have warned the larger aerodynamic surfaces on the 2017 cars will make them more sensitive to running close together, making it hard to pass. But Boullier suspects the effect won’t be too great.

Australian Grand Prix Friday practice in pictures
“I think 90 per cent of the overtaking is thanks to DRS since this device has been introduced,” he said. “So as far as we are concerned the DRS is still on so I don’t think there will be many changes on this, the number of overtakes.”

However he conceded the current cars are unlikely to be better for racing than the previous ones. “The car philosophy stays the same as the previous generation and, as long as it is dictated by this front wing, you will have this loss of downforce effect into the corners.”

Boullier said the positive reception drivers have had to the new cars is a cause to be optimistic about how good the racing will be.

“I think the drivers were the ones lobbying us to have a faster car, fastest cornering cars and clearly we have achieved this, I think, with bigger tyres, more downforce, fastest cars today and obviously that’s going to facilitate, or help the bravest drivers to try or attempt some manoeuvres to overtake.”

“So, I don’t think there will be a big difference compared with before.”

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso was one of the strongest advocates of a return to faster cars.

“I think, and the drivers as well, I can already feel – and I’m talking for McLaren only – Fernando clearly was the one who was complaining about the previous generation, and he’s clearly happier now with this kind of car.”

“He enjoys driving the car and you can see the cars today, in some fast corners they are flat-out already on Friday afternoon – so I think it’s a good sign about what we wanted to achieve. I think all the drivers [being] happier should make the show better.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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10 comments on “Boullier doubts car changes will spoil the racing”

  1. “I think 90 per cent of the overtaking is thanks to DRS since this device has been introduced,”

    This is simply not true. According to a Mercedes analysis in 2011 the percentage was closer to 50% and even though it has gone up it’s still not as bad as 90%, but more importantly, many of these overtakes would have happened without DRS anyway. The amount of overtakes depends more on the strategic variation. Given that the tires have become more durable, I expect less mixing of cars during the pit window and therefore fewer overtakes, even if the aerodynamic changes have no effect.

    1. I don’t profess to know the numbers, but he is talking about since DRS’s introduction and you are talking about one season, the first one, no? Many of the overtakes would have happened without DRS anyway? How do you know that?

      Let’s wait and see. Aero has been enough of a problem and an addiction that they brought in DRS to counter it. So now they still have aero and DRS but now they are finally on real racing tires. I would suggest there’s certainly reason to believe the non-DRS overtaking won’t be less frequent, or more difficult.

      1. @robbie Yes, 2011 was the first DRS season. I believe recently there was a post about the number of DRS and non-DRS overtakes. The sad thing is that from 2011 to 2015 not only there were increasingly fewer overtakes (http://cliptheapex.com/overtaking/), but also a bigger portion of those overtakes were DRS overtakes.

        Of course it’s impossible to say whether an overtake would also have happened without DRS, but my feeling is that in many situations the speed advantage was big enough for the faster car to overtake without DRS, so then DRS only reduced the time a faster driver was stuck behind a slower one.

        The tires may encourage overtaking, but as far as I understood, they’re still susceptible to high degradation levels when pushed. Pirelli have basically increased the hardness of the tires, so this year’s ultra-soft tire may be similar to last year’s soft tire.

  2. One might say, the problem with F1 cars is right in front or their noses

    1. ba dum tss…..

    2. Haaa. Good one 👍🏻

    3. Call of the day.

      Problem has been around 34 years and they’ve done nothing about it. Just another thing hopelessly wrong with the sport

  3. What do you know about being involved in the racing?
    Your cars never last that long!

  4. My worry about the racing ..and I could be wrong..but after watching the practice, as the cars are much quicker now, but say 2 cars chasing the lead, should one get past and the other is slowed for a few further corners, then by the time they do get past, the first driver is off into the distance….could be his race win has gone…spmeone like Lewis could use this to his advantage…but its not great for us viewers

  5. Eric’s right. His McLarens have Hondas to hinder overtaking. Ok- maybe harsh, but seriously- why are we listening to a man with such a strong track record of mediocrity and downright failure?

    Pirelli and Bernie’s stupid idea to make them supply tires that fell apart when pushed is what ruined racing. Now that they have tires they can push on I bet we see some more attacking and excitement without worrying about destroying their precious rubber. We will see!

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