Double dose of DRS in Montreal and Valencia

In 2011, the introduction of the Drag Reduction System, better known as DRS, and the availability of low-durability Pirelli tires formed an explosive combination that shattered overtaking records in a single race in China and Turkey. However, the DRS showed its limitations on two circuits traditionally not conducive to overtaking, this weekend in Barcelona, and earlier in the season, on the semi-urban circuit of Melbourne.

« In Melbourne, we didn’t have a long enough straight, » observed Charlie Whiting this weekend. « A driver could get closer to the car in front approaching the first corner, closer than he could have hoped. It would have been nice to allow him to use the DRS again between turns 2 and 3. »

Indeed, from the start of the season, the FIA had left the door open to a possible doubling of the DRS activation zone, but was then faced with logistical issues that now seem resolved: « We had the software [for managing DRS on two consecutive straights] available as early as Turkey. I thought it was still too new » explains Whiting. « [For Barcelona and Monaco], we don’t think it’s suitable [to define two zones]: it has to be consecutive straights otherwise it becomes complicated. The further apart they are, the more changes in conditions there can be between the two drivers. So, the first real opportunity, in our opinion, was in Montreal, on the back straight and the pit straight. »

But Canada will be just the first time, and the FIA has already planned to renew the system in Valencia for the European Grand Prix. « According to our plans, it should be between turns 10 and 12, then between turns 14 and 17. »