Fernando Alonso says Components 1 ought to give its guidelines extra time earlier than taking motion to attempt to repair the dearth of on-track leisure.
However the two-time world champion added that Purple Bull’s benefit over the sector, the closeness of the remainder of the automobiles and the fragility of tyres have been all responsible.
Alonso stated: “If Purple Bull weren’t up to now forward, it’s a very attention-grabbing struggle with three or 4 groups inside 0.1-0.2secs. And perhaps then we’d be saying the foundations have been successful.”
He added: “Perhaps that is the story in a number of years’ time when we’ve got some stability within the guidelines.”
F1 modified its technical guidelines for the 2022 season to attempt to carry the sector nearer collectively and make overtaking simpler.
However though the automobiles have been capable of run nearer to one another, Purple Bull have dominated and the racing appears little completely different.
Mercedes workforce principal Toto Wolff stated the game wanted to look into what it could do in regards to the final race in Azerbaijan being “boring”.
Alonso was requested whether or not he felt the brand new automobiles – which develop their efficiency from an underfloor aerodynamic characteristic referred to as ‘floor impact’ – have been the precise option to go.
“It is a good query,” the Aston Martin driver stated. “There have been increased expectations of following automobiles and perhaps having the grid a bit bit nearer collectively, however I believe we have to give a bit bit extra time.”
Requested why overtaking appeared tougher this yr, Alonso stated: “I believe as a result of we’re very shut when it comes to efficiency. If you happen to take away the Purple Bulls, generally there may be simply between third and sixteenth place in first qualifying.
“Then, finally you end qualifying within the order you deserve after which within the race, how will you overtake a automobile in entrance of you that’s simply half a tenth faster than you? It’s your pure order. That’s the predominant purpose.”
However he additionally stated the propensity of the Pirelli tyres to undergo from overheating when pushed exhausting or when a driver is following one other automobile was additionally an element.
“It might be the tyres as properly,” Alonso stated. “They nonetheless get overheated fairly closely in the event you observe automobiles. You could determine properly while you wish to be too near a automobile in entrance of you, in order that’s the issue.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz agreed with Alonso’s level about tyre overheating, and stated the drivers have been creating a consensus on the broader situation of the issue of shut racing and that they need to make extra effort to have interaction with F1 and governing physique the FIA on the subject.
Sainz was one in every of a number of drivers – together with Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris – to query the choice by the FIA to shorten the zone wherein drivers can use their DRS overtaking support in Baku. The identical choice has been made for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.
“To the good thing about F1, and the way tough it’s to observe, a minimum of I would not shorten them. I would depart them as they have been,” Sainz stated.
However Alonso stated the FIA had made that call as a result of Baku and Miami have been two of the races the place overtaking was best final yr.
And he identified that whereas Mercedes discovered it exhausting to overhaul in Baku, they have been utilizing a higher-downforce set-up than others. And that the Purple Bulls might overtake properly earlier than the primary nook utilizing DRS.
“If you happen to take one automobile, it was too lengthy, and in the event you take one other, it was too brief. So I assume it was in regards to the calculations that the FIA do after seeing final yr’s races. Baku and Miami have been on the excessive aspect when it comes to overtaking and the way simple it was and that is why they shortened it.”
World champion Max Verstappen says the stiffness of the ground-effect automobiles is among the issues stopping overtaking, as a result of drivers can’t experiment with completely different strains, over kerbs and so forth.
“I would like if we might race with out DRS however that’s not attainable,” he stated. “When the tempo is inside 0.1-0.2secs, after getting a DRS practice you haven’t any probability and the DRS zone just isn’t sufficiently big to have a run. Is it that the DRS zone is just too brief, are the automobiles not adequate to observe carefully? I believe it’s little bit of the mix of each.
“The automobiles are too heavy, they’re too stiff so you may’t actually run a kerb to search out a bit bit completely different line. Everyone seems to be driving kind of the identical line these days due to how stiff they’re. Individuals are discovering increasingly more downforce on the automobiles and it most likely turns into a bit bit tougher to observe as properly.”
Sainz agreed that he would “would personally love to return to a extra compliant automobile that does not imply we’re all ending up with decrease again issues and all that”. However he added: “Floor impact nonetheless appears like it’s the option to go for raceability.”
Take heed to the Miami Grand Prix preview present on BBC Radio 5 Reside on Friday, 5 Might at 21:00 BST.
