The best overtake of the year is:
Webber on Alonso – Eau Rouge (Belgium 2011)
A lot of people have taken it for granted that this might just win the best overtake of the year, but I thought I’d better put some evidence together about why this should win.
1) It has been said previously that Eau Rouge is no longer a challenge for modern F1 cars. I would like to remind these people of a couple of things to keep in mind. A modern F1 car can take Eau Rouge flat out, ONLY, when they are on the racing line. The overtake Webber performed put both drivers off line into the entry of the corner and therefor couldn’t take the corner flat out. I’d also like to highlight that being off the racing line, both drivers were venturing onto a part of the track that didn’t have the same levels of grip that they would normally enjoy on the racing line.
2) The place on the track where Webber overtook is not a known overtaking area, in fact, I’ve never seen a pass like it. Sure people have overtaken slower cars that have moved off line, or completed a move earlier on the straight, but at the point where Mark overtook Alonso, couldn’t of been more than 100m before the apex of the first part of the corner.
3) Neither of the 2 drivers paniced and hit each other, both gave each other enough room to race, without making it an easy pass. Any other day, or driver, Alonso would have held that position. It could be argued that the Ferrari was a slower car than the Red Bull, but I would counter by saying that although Red Bull was the fastest car all year, that Ferrari and McLaren had strengths that surpassed the Red Bull. I’m not suggesting that Mark did the overtake with an inferior car, that would be too much to say, but I’m suggesting that the overtake on a Ferrari was just as good would it have been against a McLaren or even on Vettel himself. If the manouvre was performed on a Lotus by Mark, then we wouldn’t be discussing the merrits of the overtake.
4) Martin Brundle and David Coulthard, both ex-drivers have commented about how gutsy a manouvre it was, to the point where they tracked down Mark in the back of the pits to talk to him about it. Sure sure, everyone will be saying that commentators have to talk about something, but I would argue that something as good as this will always naturally lend itself to the commentary it received during and post-race. Martin Brundle’s comments on Mark’s overtake can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/14711653.stm
In Summary:
- Skill in car control on a line that is not normally taken, judging adhesion levels, as well as speed and also making sure the car can make the next part of the corner.
- One of the most unique manouvres in F1 history! Unless I’m corrected, I’ll claim its unprecedented for a driver to overtake a competitive car at that spot!
- The overtake involved 2 cars of near equal level of competitiveness.
- Ex-F1 drivers and F1 journalists thought this was the best overtake of the year.
In my books, this has to win the overtake of the year.
And of course, the overtake in question can be seen here: http://www.genspot.com/Video/ShowVideo.aspx?video_id=365759
