DRS: Some adjustments in 2012
The FIA has announced that there will be no change in regulations regarding the use of DRS. However, the overtaking zones where it will be permitted will be adjusted.
The DRS was introduced at the beginning of the 2011 season to encourage overtaking and improve the spectacle.
Overall, the result was positive, even though the drivers wanted adjustments regarding its use during testing and the race.
If the FIA is reluctant to change regulations in this area, several changes will be made to the location of the zones.
Generally, the zones where DRS allows overtaking deemed too easy by some drivers and observers will be shortened, while those where overtaking is more difficult will be extended.
For example, we will see the removal of the second DRS zones in Canada and on the Valencia circuit, and the remaining ones on these tracks will be extended.
There should also be the introduction of a second zone on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne for the inaugural round in Australia, one of the circuits where the DRS did not have the desired effect in 2011.
Several drivers were waiting for this type of change, like Nico Rosberg for example: « DRS is really important. In the end, who cares about how we make overtakes? The FIA just needs to take care to optimize this and bring new ideas in the coming years. It’s a good thing. But it’s still better if overtakes are more challenging rather than too easy. If it’s really difficult, the pressure is there, like in Barcelona last year where it was very exciting between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. »
