Pat Symonds has admitted that overtaking hasn’t been addressed in the new 2017 rules, which have now been agreed upon with a first draft set to be distributed amongst the teams next week.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel recently called for changes to ensure overtaking is looked at in the new rules, as both raised concerns that following an identical car in dirty air makes it impossible to pass.
However Williams chief technical officer believes overtaking could actually become harder due an increase in downforce, as a result of revised aerodynamic regulations aimed at delivering a five to six second reduction in lap times.
“My belief is that the more downforce you have on a car, the harder it is to follow. And this [2017] car has more downforce,” said Symonds.
Whilst the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) has been tasked with finding a solution, Symonds – who is a member of the group – doesn’t think their work will counteract the increase in downforce.
“Therefore irrespective of any niceties that the Overtaking Working Group may have come up with, and irrespective of whether one believes them or not – I know what short cuts we did against the true scientific process – the fact is if you’ve got more downforce, the harder it is to follow.
“I think that’s simplistic, but nevertheless quite a true view.”
