Momentum is building towards Formula 1's next rules revolution in 2021, with Ross Brawn giving a sneak preview of the blueprint that will be unveiled in Bahrain later this week by revealing that mitigating the 'force field' of turbulent air that makes it so hard for cars to follow is high on the agenda.

It's a laudable and necessary objective but, in isolation, is not something that will make the racing significantly better. Let's hope Brawn has heeded his own warning from the past, and still recognises a weakness in himself that, if not overcome, will mean the overhaul he is charged with overseeing will not succeed.

To do so, Brawn must cast his mind back to one of F1's earlier, failed attempts to spice up the show. This sends us back to 2007, when Charlie Whiting formed the Overtaking Working Group to create regulations to improve the racing, resulting in the skinny aerodynamic rules of the '09 season.

About Edd Straw

Edd Straw is a former Editor and Editor-in-Chief of Autosport, who is now Motorsport Network’s Digital Content Manager.

Originally from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, he joined Autosport in 2002 having graduated from Warwick University. He went on to cover a wide range of categories from club motorsport to the World Touring Car Championship and Le Mans to Formula 3 before switching to F1 full-time at the 2008 French Grand Prix. He then became Autosport Magazine Editor in November 2014.

After becoming Editor-in-Chief of Autosport in June 2016, he took up his current wider Motorsport Network role in October the following year and continues to contribute as a writer, F1 correspondent and as host of The Autosport Podcast.

In his spare time, he was formerly a club racer whose abilities did not match his enthusiasm in a variety of categories ranging from Stock Hatch to the European Ferrari Challenge.