Overtaking is a huge problem, as when 2 closely matched cars are together, the one behind suffers bad turbulence problems, which can overheat the engine, and does overheat the tyres.
So overtaking is normally best achieved by strategy, i.e. when to make the pit stop for tyre changes.
The Australian GP was lost by Mercedes, and they did not allow Hamilton enough gap to Vettel for the Vettel tyre change. The gap was big enough under normal racing conditions, but under a virtual safety car, where cars drive much slower and keep exactly the same gap to the car in front, thereby effectively freezing the positions which they clear up a crash, the Hamilton car is travelling much slower while Vettel takes the normal time for his pit stop for tyre change, so Vettel comes out ahead of Hamilton.
Hamilton was comfortably in the lead with Vettel behind Hamilton and Raikkonen before the pit stops and virtual safety car.
If you add a proper safety car into the equation, when the whole field bunches up behind the safety car, so all gaps are reduced to a car length, then any advantage gained up to that point disappears out of the window, and if you pitted before the SC came out, you gain on those who hadn't yet pitted.
So who wins can be just as much down to luck, strategy, and the speed of the car, as the skill of the driver. In my opinion, the skill of the driver is best tested in a damp or wet race, but once again, the high probability of safety cars in a wet race can mess it all up again.
I lament the noise of a normally aspirated engine pulling 18,000 rpm. I lament the loss of the grid girls. I also don't like the beach sandle flip flop thing they have stuck on the edge of the cockpit.
