Formula 1: Are drivers allowed to overtake?

What the hell is happening in Formula 1? I have always complained about the absence of overtaking in Formula 1, which in my view takes away from quality of the racing. The dominant teams at present are McLaren Mercedes, Red Bull Renault (RBR) and Ferrari and some interesting things are happening in the pit boxes.

For the most part, a F1 race begins and ends at qualifying, unless an accident/ engine/tyre/ weather issues arise during the race. Despite the lack of abundant overtaking, F1 is a major motorsports spectacle and it has a spectator following of millions worldwide.

Turkish Grand Prix

I was watching Formula 1 Debrief recently and what I heard wasn’t comforting. During the Turkish Grand Prix, RBR had the race in the bag, until a bold, but reckless lunge by Vettel, resulted in both RBR machines making contact. RBR lost the 2 top spots and Vettel scored a dnf.

According to reports, a discussion in the RBR pit-box determined which car was faster and who would be allowed by, but it wasn’t communicated to Webber. After the RBR debacle, McLaren machines were 1-2 and they picked up where RBR left off. Lewis was leading, but Button charged ahead and a feisty Lewis re-took the top spot, both cars touching briefly. Again, based on pit-box happenings, Lewis was not expecting a move from Button.

So here is my problem. In a sport that already has little overtaking, team mates are kept in check, restrained even and overtaking at times is being determined by the team, despite team orders not being allowed! Is this really racing? What has happened to the days when a driver would drive his ass off, use his God given abilities, the tools he has on the day and hustle his machine to the front. I would really love to see unencumbered drivers, carefully coordinating overtaking opportunities, thus enriching the action on track. Is it too much to expect race car drivers to race everyone, including their teammate?

NB. I watched the Canadian Grand Prix. I will share my views in a bit.

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer