Ricciardo takes over F1's 'passing master' mantle from Verstappen, but F1 2017's faster cars deliver sharp decrease in overtaking moves
Tuesday 5 December 2017 16:37, UK
Daniel Ricciardo completed more overtaking moves than any other driver in F1 2017, it has been revealed.
According to data released by tyre supplier Pirelli, Red Bull driver Ricciardo made a grid-best 43 passing moves during the 20-race campaign despite retiring six times.
Team-mate Max Verstappen had topped the overtaking charts in each of his first two years of F1, but the Dutchman's tally was down from a record 78 in 2016 to 22 this year.
But Verstappen and world champion Lewis Hamilton were the drivers who were overtaken the fewest times - just twice apiece.
A Red Bull car was passed just 11 times in total, the fewest times in the field.
Horner to Hamilton: Don't forget Ricciardo
Grading the teams in 2017
Ricciardo's sole victory of the season came from 10th on the grid in June's Azerbaijan GP and it was the unpredictable Baku event which produced the most overtaking moves during a race - 42.
By contrast, the Russian GP at the Sochi Autodrom saw just one pass all race.
What about overtaking over the season?
F1's push for faster, more aggressive cars delivered on the stopwatch this year with the 2017 machines lowering average pole position times by 2.5 seconds and race fastest laps by three seconds from 2016, according to Pirelli.
However, fears that the big increases in downforce, and more durable tyres, would harm overtaking were also realised with a 49.8 per cent drop in passing moves.
There were 435 on-track overtakes in 2017, down from 866 across 21 races last year. The 2016 figure was the highest since records began in 1983.
In 2015 there were 509 moves and 636 in 2014, the first year of the current hybrid engines.
Meanwhile, the return to tyres which lasted for longer resulted in fewer pit stops with only 533 this year compared to 933 in 2016.
Sky Sports F1 is the only place to watch every Formula 1 Grand Prix, qualifying and practice session live in 2018. Get Sky Sports F1.
