Massa: Overtaking won't always be as bad as Australia

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Williams driver Felipe Massa said this week that overtaking won't always prove as difficult as it was in Melbourne.

But he agreed that the Australian Grand Prix had been a disappointment in terms of wheel-to-wheel action to kick off the 2017 seasoon.

"It's a lot harder to get past now," he acknowledged in an interview with Brazilian broadcaster Sportv this week. "But that was clear as soon as they changed the rules.

"But it depends on the track. Australia is always a difficult circuit to pass on, so it will not always be like that."

"It was always like this, until they invented the DRS," Massa added.

"In the old days, the position you started was more or less where you finished if you didn't make a mistake or have a problem.

"So it will not be the same as it was in the past, because of DRS. But if we didn't have DRS, nobody would pass anyone."

Mercedes warns overtaking will be a problem

Massa added that Albert Park Circuit was not the best example on which to base predictions of the rest of the season.

"There will be harder circuits," he explained. "Australia is not very difficult on the physical side.

"But in Malaysia it will be very hot, for example," he continued. "There are circuits on which we will feel it on the physical side, and if you get tired, the chance to make a mistake is greater.

"I finished the race in Australia well, but without doubt it's harder than before.

"But if you look at the drivers, everyone is training. Most of the drivers are very professional. Maybe Hamilton a little less!" he quipped.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.