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Lauda Blasts New Rear Wing in F1

Formula 1 will debut some interesting new technologies in 2011 – some of which have already been tried on, like the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, but failed due to the rush by which they debuted in the first place – most aimed at improving the show and ensuring that more overtaking happens throughout the one and a half hour of F1 racing on Sundays.

The adjustable rear wing is one of them, as it presumably allows the car that finds itself less than a second behind another racer to overtake it more easily. Or at least that's what was initially thought. With the new FIA regulations however, which state that deploying the rear wing can only happen within a 600 metre zone on a straight, the situation in much more complicated than that.

According to triple F1 champion Niki Lauda, the new wing will prove to be a total failure in 2011, as he believes “this artificial intervention of technology is a poor compromise,” according to the Blick newspaper.

Ultimately it's a manipulation of the racing,” added the soon to be 62-year old Austrian.

His words do nothing but echo the comments issued by several high-ranked drivers in F1 at the moment – reigning champion Sebastian Vettel 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber or F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello – who all warned that the multitude of elements introduced for the 2011 campaign don't as much improve the chances of overtaking but increase the stress on F1 drivers.

Actually, talking about overtaking and the possibility of enhancing it in 2011, Alonso and Webber recently agreed that it will be the Pirelli tires which will have a strong saying in it this year, rather than the adjustable rear wing.
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