Back in the day, passing backmarkers was considered the prime time to pounce on an opponent because being held up was inevitable.
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That' s the way it was and that' sthe way it should have stayed. Some of the most iconic overtaking maneuvres that have made it into F1 folklore were instances of great drivers using backmarkers to catch rivals unaware. At a time when people have been complaining about the excessive difficulty for modern-day cars to overtake one another they have managed to remove one of the most effective - and entirely gimmick-free - methods of overtaking.
Why should backmarkers be forced to drive off the racing line? They are driving their own race and it should be the leaders' own responsability to deal with them, just as it is their own responsability to deal with any other change in track conditions.
F1 should really take a look at how they do things in the WEC. Drivers of slower cars in the WEC are actually instructed to stick to their racing line, and the onus is ALWAYS on the faster drivers to do their own overtaking. Removes any possible misunderstandings. While it's more of a necessity in WEC because of the vast speed differences between the different categories it would still make for better racing in F1.
Absolutely.
It was just another skill that the top drivers had to hone.
If I had my way there wouldn't be blue flags.
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Or rather they should revert to their original function i.e purely informative. Still blue flag: Car behind you. Waved blue flag: Car trying to overtake you. Without any distinction between backmarkers or leaders. Purely informative and in no way compulsory.
