Ricciardo: Cars too wide for overtaking
Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo believes the width of modern Formula 1 cars plays a part in making overtaking more difficult.
A noticeable drop in overtaking opportunities has been apparent since F1 shifted back to wider, high-downforce cars in 2017, and the 2018 season opener in Melbourne provided just five genuine on-track passes after the first lap.
Much has been made of the aero and its effect on a following car, but Ricciardo said the wider stance of the cars was also reducing passing opportunities.
“I feel now with the wide tyres and wide cars, they already take up a lot of space on the track,” he said.
“It’s hard to find clean air. It’s getting to a point where I think some racetracks are going to be hurt by the racing. There’s not going to be much.
“I think narrower cars were great. It’s like motorbikes, because they’re so narrow there’s always room to get past. And they lap 30 seconds slower than us.
“I think it proves it’s not necessarily about the lap time. We do need the ability to race, because that’s the spectacle.”