The entire Formula One community must work together to improve overtaking, according to the sport's technical chief Ross Brawn.
The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was low on overtaking, with just a handful of passes happening after the first lap. Several key battles in the closing stages fizzled out when the chasing driver was unable to get close enough to pass; Daniel Ricciardo was unable to catch and pass Kimi Raikkonen in the fight for third, while Fernando Alonso finished fifth at the front end of a train of cars.
Lewis Hamilton was another who struggled after falling behind Sebastian Vettel during the Virtual Safety Car period, as he was unable to get close enough to the Ferrari driver in the final stint.
After the race, Hamilton described the difficulty in passing by saying: "If my best friend was on the edge of a cliff and I couldn't get to him to save his life today... that's how hard it was to overtake, I couldn't for the life of me with everything, all my might, all my abilities, all my tools, I just couldn't get close enough to be in fighting range.
"I was catching him in the corners but then he was quicker in the straights. Maybe the next races are going to be different."
Former Mercedes chief Brawn, installed in his current role when Liberty Media took control of F1 at the start of 2017, agrees that fans watching the Australian Grand Prix were robbed of a proper spectacle due to the nature of modern cars.
"One vital ingredient was missing, namely overtaking, as there were really very few passing moves in this opening round," he said. "It's vital that the cars are capable of getting close to one another and racing wheel to wheel.
"When there is only a small speed gap between two cars then it's almost impossible for the pursuer to get close enough to mount an attack. We saw that with Hamilton and Vettel, [Max] Verstappen and [Kevin] Magnussen and again the Dutchman and Alonso and with Ricciardo and Raikkonen. Think of how much wheel to wheel dicing we missed out on! And, for the very first time we even had a third DRS zone specifically to increase the chances of overtaking."
One of Brawn's main priorities is to get F1 to settle on aerodynamic regulations which make it easier for cars to follow one another, part of what he has labelled a "perfect world" formula where multiple teams are competitive and on-track racing is closer and more exciting. Having built a research team to better understand the impact of aerodynamics on racing -- a process he said had produced exciting results at the end of 2017 -- he wants to see the sport do more to address one of its biggest issues.
"The point is, that until we take a structured approach to the problem, we won't really make any progress. One of our aims, which we are looking at with the FIA and the teams is that, for 2021, we want to have cars that allow drivers to really fight one another on track. To that end, the FIA and F1 are carrying out an aerodynamic research programme with two car models, both in the wind tunnel and using CFD.
"We need to evolve a car design that achieves close to the level of performance we now see, but permits wheel to wheel action. Formula One fans want to see a better show and overtaking is the most exciting and spectacular element you can have on track. The whole Formula One community must make an effort to satisfy this need, because the fans are our biggest asset."