Since buying the sport at the start of 2017, Liberty Media has created a number of working groups aimed at improving various aspects of the sport.

Speaking in Birmingham today, former Benetton, Renault and Williams technical boss Pat Symonds, who is now working as part of Ross Brawn's technical group, whose remit is to improve the quality of the racing, in terms of the technical and sporting regulations, revealed that an overtaking simulation has been developed which will assist in the designing of circuits as the sport seeks to increase the opportunity for overtaking.

"We've produced what I think is the world's first overtaking simulation," revealed the Briton. "It's been extremely complex to do," he admitted.

"To run a lap takes several hours. It's a very, very complex simulation but it has a proper wake model of the cars, it looks at the surface and the tyre characteristics and all these sort of things.

"We're now using it to design our new circuits and to look at some modifications," he continued. "Vietnam, which is the first circuit we've really been involved with, I think that we have really been able to understand what it will take to make good racing there. I think Vietnam is going to be a superb circuit. It's got some great features and it's going to have some close racing at it."

Of course, one could argue that such overtaking simulations weren't needed to create the likes of Spa, Suzuka or Interlagos, while if the sport's powers-that-be focussed less on street tracks in "destination cities" and more on 'natural' tracks that haven't been emasculated beyond belief, it wouldn't be an issue.

Asked about Lucas di Grassi's recent claim that circuit designs should offer an alternative to 'traditional' racing lines, Symonds said: "What he is saying is correct, there are many aspects to it, but we've got to have science behind it, we've got to have the evidence.

"I've heard so many theories how to make cars overtake," he continued, "everyone saying give them mechanical grip, you hear that one time and time again. The evidence is actually that in a wet race, where you've got less grip, you get much better racing. So, we're putting the science into it now."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Greg, 11/01/2019 16:11

"And as each car has its own aero set up the wake from each car wipp be different. Big waste of money."

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 11/01/2019 14:29

"Assuming you accept the premise (I don't) then the simulator will need revising with each new iteration of the rules, at appropriately exorbitant cost.

However that's the least important reason why its silly & pointless....."

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3. Posted by Max Noble, 11/01/2019 9:48

"I’m sure Hanoi will be delighted to move buildings a few metres to the left or right based on the recommendations of the overtaking simulator. It’s so easy to build a bespoke circuit within the middle of an established city rather than in a pesky green field or open desert..."

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4. Posted by VC10-1103, 11/01/2019 7:45

"Hmmmm. We have two choices here a) spend at least hundreds of thousands on an overtaking simulator or b) save money all round and reduce aero grip. That’s settled then, we’ll splash the cash.

You would think that with all that brain power in F1 there would be a few people with more sense than money."

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5. Posted by imejl99, 11/01/2019 7:43

"I had to double check the date, and it is not April 1st. Every word suggests it is April Fools News. Life beats fiction.

Maybe on April 1st we will hear something from Liberty`s F1 working groups monitoring working group, Hogwash Committee, on the state of the art management simulator."

F1 creates overtaking sim to aid circuit design

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