How DRS has skewed Formula 1's overtaking records

Before we answer the question, it's important to outline the criteria in which the data has been collated.

An overtaking move is classed as one that takes place during complete flying laps - so the opening lap is discounted - and is maintained all the way to the lap's finish line.

Position changes due to major mechanical problems or lapping/unlapping are not counted, nor are place changes made during pitstops.

Verstappen ended Niki Lauda's reign at the top, with the Austrian having held the record since 1984 with 60 passes.

Now, as the table below shows, Lauda is one of only two drivers - Michael Schumacher the other - in the top 10 to have achieved his best tally before the DRS overtaking aid was introduced in 2011.

Top 10 F1 drivers with most overtakes

Based on overtaking statistics from 1984-2016

	Driver	Year	Overtakes	Av.erage per race
1	Max Verstappen	2016	78	3.71
2	Daniel Ricciardo	2016	61	2.90
3	Sebastian Vettel	2012	60	3.00
4	Michael Schumacher	2003	60	3.75
5	Niki Lauda	1984	60	3.75
6	Felipe Massa	2013	59	3.10
7	Mark Webber	2013	59	3.10
8	Jean-Eric Vergne	2012	58	2.90
9	Sergio Perez	2016	56	2.66
10	Kimi Raikkonen	2013	56	2.95

Verstappen's form this season has been undeniably strong, with his performance in Brazil particularly impressive as he clocked up 13 passes under the criteria.

But like his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who moved into second place in the table this year with 61, 17 passes behind Verstappen, both had the benefit of DRS.

They also achieved the feat in the longest F1 season on record with 21 races and in an era when Pirelli has been asked to produce high-degradation tyres.

That compares to just 16 races when Lauda set the previous record, while Schumacher's tally of 60, just one fewer than Ricciardo, was set over the same number.

If the table was reshuffled based on average passes per race, Lauda and Schumacher would share the record with 3.75 passes per race, with Verstappen dropping to third with 3.71.

Meanwhile, Vettel, who jointly held the previous record, would drop to sixth overall.

The impact of DRS is even more stark when you compare the total number of overtakes per year since 1990.

F1 overtakes per season

Full data from 1990-2016

Year	Overtakes	Races	Av.erage per race
1990	494	16	30.9
1991	495	16	30.9
1992	406	16	25.4
1993	392	16	24.5
1994	289	16	18.1
1995	297	17	17.5
1996	186	16	11.6
1997	265	17	15.6
1998	207	16	12.9
1999	260	16	16.3
2000	279	16	16.4
2001	230	17	13.5
2002	235	17	13.8
2003	303	16	18.9
2004	287	18	16.2
2005	207	19	10.9
2006	291	18	16.2
2007	270	17	15.9
2008	267	18	14.8
2009	211	16	13.2
2010	452	19	23.8
2011	821	19	43.2
2012	870	20	43.5
2013	760	19	40.0
2014	636	19	33.5
2015	509	19	26.8
2016	866	21	41.2

When DRS was introduced in 2011, the number of passes nearly doubled from 452 to 821 and was nearly four times of that of seasons during the late '90s and early '00s.

It's also notable that when a regulation change has been introduced, such as in 2009 (pictured) and '14, the number of passes has fallen compared to the previous year.

Various factors influenced the overtaking figures, such as pitstops, particularly when tyre changes became more common in the early 1990s.

Average number of passes per race 1990-2016

NB. F1 races featured refuelling from 1994-2009

When refuelling was introduced in 1994, the figures took a further tumble and they stayed low through the early part of the 21st century.

When F1's rulemakers started tinkering with the qualifying format from 2003 the figures increased slightly but remained low.

They then rose dramatically when DRS and Pirelli's tyres with higher degradation were introduced.

Using the criteria, there have been 14,914 passes since 1983, with nearly a third of those - 4462 - occurring in the last six seasons when DRS has been available.

Statistics compiled by Michele Merlino