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Todt: Lack of passing a price worth paying for better F1 cars

FIA president Jean Todt believes a lack of overtaking in Formula 1 this year may be a price worth paying for faster and more spectacular cars.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, leads Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, leads Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08

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Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team RS17, leads Esteban Ocon, Force India VJM10, Lance Stroll, Williams FW40, and Jolyon Palmer, Renault Sport F1 Team RS17
Jean Todt, FIA President
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08, leads Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
Jean Todt, FIA President
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, leads Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W08, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, and the remainder of the field through the first corner

One of the downsides of the new generation of F1 cars is that drivers have found it much more difficult to pass their rivals.

Lewis Hamilton went as far as suggesting after the Australian Grand Prix that the current situation was the worst he had experienced in his 10-year F1 career.

"It is fundamental to the way the cars have been since I've been in Formula 1 but it's probably worse now than it's ever been," he said about overtaking difficulties.

"It's definitely not going to be better – it's going to be the same for the rest of the season."

Speaking to selected media ahead of the Australian GP race, Todt acknowledged that there was likely to be less passing in 2017, but did not believe that it was something too negative for the sport.

"Overtaking has always been a problem in motor racing," explained Todt. "I remember races 20 or 30 years ago, when a car with fresh tyres that was three or four seconds quicker could not pass a car with old tyres, because overtaking was difficult.

"Clearly we can figure out that overtaking will be even more difficult this year. But we have tried to find ways to make overtaking easier with DRS and other technologies.

"Maybe the new regulations will make overtaking more difficult, but maybe it was the price to pay by having wider cars with more aerodynamics."

The FIA is set to reconsider the length of DRS zones after the Chinese Grand Prix when it has a better idea about just how difficult overtaking is.

Todt has also suggested that longer term maybe F1 needs a rethink of its aero concept to ensure that future cars can follow each other more closely.

"It's something that we need to address when we are going to speak about future regulations, about whether it is a good compromise."

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