Yo-yo on hold
One of the main topics of discussion during the first three GPs of the season was that of ‘artificial’ overtakes, decided more by the power delivered at a given moment on the cars by the computers than by the actual driving of the driver. The words spoken by Lando Norris after the Suzuka race had caused a stir in this regard, when the reigning world champion admitted to having overtaken Hamilton “without meaning to do it” but because he was “forced” by a sudden increase in power from his power unit.
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In Miami, there was curiosity to understand whether the regulation adjustments introduced during the five-week break would have any effect. Indeed, the situation seemed different: there were fewer overtakes but the battles appeared – at least on TV – more ‘real’ and decided more by braking skill and driver duels rather than by power unit power spikes.
The drivers’ analysis
According to the drivers themselves, however, not all that glitters is gold and the problems of what have been dubbed ‘yo-yo overtakes’ will return. Charles Leclerc, talking about the difficulties he had in attacking and overtaking Oscar Piastri after catching him in the final phase of the Sprint, blamed the Florida heat: “I think the fact that it was so hot overheated my tyres quite quickly and this made it very difficult for me to get close compared to the first two or three races – said the Ferrari driver – so it probably depends a bit more on the conditions that were there, but we’ll see”. A similar opinion was expressed by Piastri himself: “‘Yo-yo’ overtakes will still be a normal thing – warned the Australian – at one point my engineer told me that Charles was gaining four tenths on me on one straight and then I gained three on the next. So there will still be these big speed differences”.
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The summary was provided by the reigning world champion, Lando Norris: “In a Sprint nothing really changes, apart from superclips and things like that – said the McLaren Englishman – but otherwise [the new rules are] a step in the right direction. It’s all we can really ask for at the moment and the rest will probably have to come later in the year but also in the years to come”. We have to wait.
