Nigel Mansell blasts 'totally false' F1 in scathing assesment

Nigel Mansell believes F1 fans have every right to be "grumpy" at the new technical regulations, which he feels are creating "totally false" overtakes.

The make-up of F1's technical regulations has been called into question in the first three races of the new season, with the 50-50 split in power output from the internal combustion engine and batteries a main area of contention.

As a result of this, in qualifying, drivers are no longer going flat-out due to a need to recover and recharge energy for deployment on the straights, whilst complex computer algorithms are in charge of deploying the energy, and can be thrown off if a driver makes a mistake during a lap.

Changes are set to be implemented for this weekend's return to action at the Miami GP, including a reduction in the overall battery charge level to 7MJ from 8MJ in a bid to reduce super-clipping and lift and coast.

Offering his view, Mansell, the 1992 F1 champion and 31-time grand prix winner, felt that overtaking had become "totally false."

"I might get shot for saying this, but sadly, some of the overtakes are just totally false," he told Autosport.

"I mean, some of the overtakes look great, and then you come out the next corner, and then the car just blasts past you, and the other car goes backwards because the computer is giving you the extra power not at the right time, and the driver doesn’t control that obviously, because he wouldn’t have employed it.

"I think it was Lando [Norris] who quoted, 'Well, I didn’t want to overtake [Lewis Hamilton] going into the first corner and into the chicane, but I had no choice.'

"And then coming out of the corner, he’s in the lead, and then the car just blasts past him again, going down the straight.

"So I think you’ve got to be very careful because, forget me, it doesn’t matter about me, but the fans around the world, I know an awful lot of them are very grumpy.

"And to be fair to the fans, I agree with them."