Three of Red Bull's top engineers believe the 2017 regulations could have a positive impact on overtaking this season, rather than the increasingly common view that the new rules will restrict passing opportunities.
The regulations will see increases in the width of the car, the size of the tyres and the amount of downforce generated by the aerodynamic surfaces with the overall aim of making the cars several seconds quicker per lap.
The perceived wisdom is that the more dependent a car is is on aerodynamics for performance, the harder it is to follow in the disturbed air of the car in front and the more difficult it is to set up overtaking opportunities. But Red Bull's head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows believes there is another side to the argument that is being overlooked.
"The more downforce the cars produce, the more they can be affected by other cars in terms of their drag, so it could be that cars are able to run closer behind another car to use a slipstream down the straight. Overtaking in that sense could actually be easier," he said.
Red Bull's chief of performance engineering Pierre Wache points out that the extra drag will mean more time on the straights and, in theory, a longer opportunity to overtake.
"The 2017 car will clearly be a more aggressive car in terms of looks, it will be wider and will look like more of a muscle car - with bigger tyres, for sure," Wache said. "One of the aspects of having a wider car is that it could be more difficult to overtake.
"However, due to the aerodynamic effect you will have, and the more drag effect you will have, you will have more time on the straights and more opportunity than previous years to overtake in these kinds of condition."
The new wider tyres will be crucial for overtaking next year as they will supplement the increased downforce with more mechanical grip. Pirelli has developed compounds that are not so susceptible to thermal degradation, meaning drivers will be able to push harder for longer without needing to back off to save their tyres. Importantly for overtaking, drivers should also be able to travel in the dirty wake of the car in front without putting too much stress through their front tyres, and Paul Monaghan, Red Bull's chief of car engineering, believes that will provide more opportunities to overtake.
"The tyres themselves, if they are more durable shall we say than previous generations, then I think it will change the racing. Not necessarily for the worse, but I think for the better and we will have potentially more overtaking."