New Indycar overtaking record set, why can't F1 do the same?

In the Indycar race in St. Petersburg on Sunday, 366 overtaking moves were recorded. This compares to 435 for the entirety of the F1 2017 season. How have Indycar got overtaking so regularly in their races and not in F1?

As a Formula 1 fan, there is nothing more exciting than a daring overtake, for example Mark Webber overtaking Fernando Alonso into Eau Rouge, or Max Verstappen's daring move on Nico Rosberg through the Maggots-Becketts complex at Silverstone in 2016.

Overtakes is what gets the fans in, and keeps them there, but F1 has struggled to produce races with plenty of overtakes in recent years.

In fact, in last year's Russian grand prix, there wasn't a single on track overtake in the whole race.

(Please note that overtakes in F1 are only counted as overtakes on a flying lap, so first corner overtakes do not count)

The lack of overtakes in 2017, 47% down on 2016 was largely blamed on new regulations for 2017 which led to cars having higher downforce.

This makes it more difficult for cars to run behind each other, as the 'dirty air' from the car in front destabilises the one behind.

The Indycar race was won by former Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Bourdais.